Tales of the Gold Wookie
by starwenn
Summary: Newly-minted archaeologist Leia Skylark and her reporter brother Luke may be in over their heads when they discover that their late adopted father gave them his maps and notes that may lead to the discovery of the powerful Swords of Alderaan, the weapons that once defended a vanished civilization.


**Tales of the Gold Wookie**

Rating: PG-13 (violence, mild language, sexual content)

Pairings: Han/Leia

Disclaimer: The franchise belongs to George Lucas and the Walt Disney Company.

Notes 1: This is set in Los Angeles, the French Riviera, and several fictional locales in the late summer and fall of 1938.

Notes: Another genre I'm a big fan of is swashbuckling adventures about archaeologists and treasure hunters. I also love mid-20th-century history. This was originally going to be a more typical 20's gangster story, but first I saw photos of Harrison Ford in a bomber jacket (for the 1979 movie _Hanover Street_ ) on Tumblr, and then ran into this Tumblr photoset, and I though...pilot. He's a pilot for hire in the 30's. Other inspirations include the late Elizabeth Peters' long-running book series about female archaeologist Amelia Peabody and her family uncovering lost artifacts in Egypt, the short-lived early 80's TV show _Tales of the Gold Monkey_ (and the Disney cartoon series _Tail Spin_ it may have inspired), the novels of H. Rider Haggard, and the _National Treasure_ and, of course, the _Indiana Jones_ films.

The young woman stood in front of the wide walnut desk, looking every inch the fresh-scrubbed young professor just out of college in her white suit and flower-trimmed cloche hat. Her shoulder-length, russet-brown curls bounced with every word. "Dr. Mothma, I'm sure I'm ready for a real field assignment. I graduated at the top of my class last year. I got the highest scores on the final exams in the history of UCLA. My work since then with Professor Dodonna has been nothing short of exemplary."

"Leia Skylark," the tall, elegant red-haired woman in the gold and white suit began, "I am aware of your work with Dodonna. I'm also aware that you were mostly a glorified secretary, and even then, you antagonized several members of the crew with your temper and your views on the political situation in Europe and Asia."

Leia wrinkled her snub nose in annoyance. "The office boys started it."

"You didn't have to finish it." Dr. Mothma finally pulled out a manila envelope, handing her a large photo. "Do you recognize this?"

She sucked in her breath in surprise. "It's one of the Swords of Alderaan." The photo showed a long, flat object, obviously made from some kind of sharp rock or crystal. It gleamed, even in the black and white photo. The hilt was meticulously etched gold. "The Sword of Light. I thought it disappeared with the Sword of Wisdom twenty years ago."

Her boss shook her head. "That's what we thought, too." She gathered her papers. "It was recently seen in the private collection of General Pietr Tarkin. He's one of the top military advisers in the Empire, and he's said to be very interested in ancient weaponry."

Leia narrowed her eyes. "Why does that not surprise me? I've heard Tarkin's been buying every so-called mystical artifact he thinks will give the Empire more power." She clenched a fist. "Tarkin claims they're doing the world a favor, clearing out anything that's undesirable. They're really bullies. Them and the Nazis. What they did in North Africa and Eastern Europe alone..."

Dr. Mothma put up a hand, stopping the young woman in mid-sentence. "We're all familiar with your opinions on the Empire, Miss Skylark." She gave the girl an inquisitive smile. "You're something of a specialist when it comes to the lost Kingdom of Alderaan."

Leia's grin lit up her round, plump-cheeked face. "I could discuss this for hours. I did my thesis on it, in fact. Alderaan was a small country in Central America, with its own culture, architecture, music, and art. Despite their size, they were one of the mightiest and wealthiest kingdoms in Central America. Their treasure was said to be so vast, it took a vault the size of ten skyscrapers to hold it. They flourished through the 17th century, mainly thanks to the Jedi Order."

She coughed, then continued. "The Jedi Order was a religious and a military association, lead by the Guardians of Light, Wisdom, and Strength. They defended their borders with the three Swords of Force until the Spanish Conquistadors leveled most of Alderaan in 1579...and it's said, leveled the Jedi along with the rest, although the cult is said to to survive in remote corners of Latin America and Mexico. It's rumored that when the swords are brought together, they'll not only lead the way to the rest of the treasure, but give the bearers immeasurable power. Of course," she went on with a small smile, "it's also said that each sword gave their owners a different ability, such as telekinesis, mind reading, or super strength, and that if the swords fell into evil hands, it could cause the end of of the world. That's just folk tales."

"Not entirely." Dr. Mothma frowned. "Wasn't your godfather Dr. Bail Organa doing research on those 'folk tales' in Guatemala? He was an authority on the Jedi and the stories surrounding them. In fact, he was on a dig in Central America looking for proof of their existence right before his death."

Leia stiffened. "Papa Bail...Dr. Organa truly believed the stories. Luke and I heard them every night instead of fairy tales when we were little." When she turned her brown eyes to her boss, the deep, hot rage in them was unmistakable. "He shouldn't have died with a knife in his back. His assistants were killed, too, found with their throats cut in a back alley in Guatemala City. Someone wanted them out of the way."

"That's what we believe as well." Dr. Mothma pulled out another photo. Leia gave her boss an inquisitive look. "Tarkin is in Los Angeles to talk to several American defense contractors about equipment for the Empire. He's staying at the home of Derek Vader."

Leia raised an eyebrow. "The head of Dark Star Industries?"

"Yes. Vader is also known for his interest in Mesopotamian art. Like Tarkin, it's rumored he purchased much of his collection through the black market." She showed her another photograph, this one of a tall, broad-shouldered, very imposing figure in a black suit, his wide-brimmed hat hiding most of his face.

She leaned over her desk, dropping her voice. "We have reason to believe Tarkin obtained the Sword of Light illegally, probably through the black market." She shuffled some papers on her desk. "Bail contacted several people, including me, the night he died. He said he had a major find, one that could change the world." The older woman's face hardened. "We got word two days later that Tarkin had been seen with the Sword in his possession."

Leia nodded, biting her lip. "Papa Bail called me the night before. He said he was sending me something big from Guatemala, something important. He sounded really worried." Her eyes were bright and hard. "I think he found the sword and was killed over it."

"Vader is holding a party to show off some of his collection this afternoon." She handed Leia a card with fancy script. "I was invited and allowed to bring a guest. I thought you might be interested."

Leia nodded. "I'm more than interested. This will be the perfect way to get to the bottom of this."

Dr. Mothma's eyes crinkled into a warm smile. "Your father and mother would have been so proud of you. Andrew Skylark did want at least one of his children to follow in his footsteps. He was a truly great archaeologist. His theories on the Mayan temples in Guatemala were brilliant, if quite unorthodox."

The younger woman sighed. "I wish I'd known him and Mother. Papa Bail always changed the subject when we asked about them. Uncle Owen and Aunt Bertha won't talk about them at all."

Dr. Mothma's eyes shown in understanding. "Padama Amidala was a brilliant scholar. She had a good heart. She could never turn anyone away, including your father. Your father was a true maverick. Your brother got his blond good looks, but you have that fire he used to have in his belly." She raised an eyebrow. "By the way, how is that journalist brother of yours?"

Leia chuckled. "Luke's still an intern for Benton Kenobi. You know, the reporter for the Daily Star? His work during the Great War and in the early 20's was very well-regarded."

Her boss raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know he was still alive. I heard he had some kind of falling out with his best friend and went underground."

She shrugged. "My brother holds him in the highest esteem, and he was in Papa Bail and Father's unit during the Great War. He was the one who recommended Luke to him. I haven't really met him, but I've read some of his articles." She finally shook Dr. Mothma's hand as the older woman stood. "Thank you again, Dr. Mothma. You won't regret this."

The older woman smiled. "I'm sure I won't."

Luke was waiting for her on the curb outside, leaning against the car they shared. He was giving her one of his big, sunny grins that lit up his whole face. His slightly slouchy tan sweater, old cap, and grease-stained slacks gave away what he'd probably spent most of the morning doing. "Hi, sis!" He put his arm around his sister's shoulder. "Well, did you get it?"

Leia hugged him, trying to avoid the grease. "Yes, she gave me the assignment. It's the one I've been dreaming about, the one Papa Bail dreamed about."

Luke's grin got even bigger, if that was possible. "Alderaan?"

She nodded, a grin spreading across her own face. "Dr. Mothma wants me to help her find the Swords of the Guardians." She ruffled his longish sandy hair. "Luke, this could open up a whole new level of possible research on Alderaan and its relationship to Central American culture."

"That's great!" He squeezed her shoulder. "I want first dibs on the story when you find them! Ben says I'm almost ready for my first assignment."

Leia sighed. "Luke, I don't understand you. You've been interning with Kenobi for nearly a year. You should have gone on a dozen assignments by now!"

"Leia, I'll get there!" Luke's grin became dreamy. "Just imagine it when I'm the most famous reporter on the Star, and you're one of the most prominent archaeologists in the world! Who'd believe that such a great team came from tiny little Tatoonie, Arizona?"

She shook her head. "Maybe if you kept your head out of the clouds on your eyes on the road, you'd actually get somewhere."

"I'll get somewhere, someday. It'll happen." He opened the passenger side door with a flourish. "Ok, Miss Skylark, where do ya want to go today?"

His sister giggled, instantly picking up the game. Luke loved mimicry and was fairly adept at imitations. He could imitate every servant on Papa Bail and Mama Breha's staff, including Artie, their driver and handyman. "I would love to go home. I will be attending a party this afternoon at the home of a very important man, and I have to get ready."

Luke climbed into the driver's side. "Someone I know?"

The young woman next to him suddenly became very interested in powdering her nose. "Derek Vader."

"What?" Luke's jaw dropped. "The industrialist?"

She dropped the puff back in her case and snapped it shut. "The very same. General Tarkin is staying at his house. Dr. Mothma and I want to have a talk to him about the Sword of Light."

"I can't believe you're going to do this!" His voice rose to a near-whine as he just barely missed a car pulling out of an intersection. "You haven't heard the stories Ben told me about Vader."

"Luke, eyes on the road."

Her brother pulled back just in time to avoid hitting the motorist in front of him. "Leia, I'm serious! Vader's bad news. If he doesn't like someone, he'll go out of his way to publicly destroy them."

"Luke, I'll be fine. Dr. Mothma will be there." She gave him her most reassuring smile. "Besides, I know how to take care of myself." She pulled a small, snub-nosed pistol out of her purse. "And I still have this."

"What?" Luke looked at the gun like it might bite him. "Tell me there's no bullets in that."

"It's fully loaded. I'm not holding the trigger." She dropped it back in her purse. "A girl has to know how to defend herself. Why do you think I begged Uncle Owen to take both of us on hunting trips?"

"I still don't like it." He stopped at the apartment they shared near UCLA. "Here you go, sis! Front door service. I'd go in with you, but I have to get back to work. Harry and Charel are coming in today. Harry called from San Francisco yesterday and said the engine on the Silver Falcon might need some work. Something about out-running the Turks over Libya."

"Again?" Leia rolled her eyes. "Doesn't that boss of yours ever do anything besides fix his engine and haul narcotics and guns and other things that are even less legal?"

Luke immediately leaped to the defense of his best friend. "Hey, he's hauled legal cargo, too! He a nice guy. I think you'd like him, if you gave him a chance." He patted her hand. "You be careful, all right? I know you, Leia. You'll start some fight, or snoop around, and you'll get into trouble."

Leia laughed. "Luke, it's just a party. What's the worst that could happen?"

Leia was bored. She'd been at the party for over an hour, and while she had seen Tarkin talking to several of his fellow Imperials, she had yet to run into Vader. Vader was a man of mystery. No one knew where he came from, or how he made his money. There were rumors that his real name wasn't even Vader. He was known to be both eccentric and forbidding, his heavily scarred face scaring off most people wanting small talk. Her lacy white afternoon dress and fancy flowered hat were starting to feel confining.

She swore one man kept giving her the eye. He was tall and thin, with a long face with a bony chin and short, curly dark hair. For some reason, he wore sunglasses, even indoors. She didn't like the way he was staring at her...or at least, she assumed he was staring at her, given she couldn't see his eyes. His hand was stuck in the pocket of his sharp green and tan suit. Something about him was making her nervous. Maybe it was the slightly cruel twitch in his mouth, or the way he leaned against the wall like he owned the place. She finally fled the main parlor room, leaving the man and his cruel mouth behind.

She finally ended up in the offices, where Vader's collection was found. The assemblage of artifacts was impressive. Vader himself had paid for the recovery of a good portion of them. It was said Vader was an archaeologist at one point, but had been fired by the University of California for his disruptive behavior on digs, outrageous theories, and tendency to keep what he found, regardless of whom he'd promised it to.

Many of the items came from Alderaan's golden years as Central America's most prosperous kingdom. She counted spears and bows and arrows, shields with colors still bright with pigment, tribal masks, small statues, cups and dishes, colorful pottery. Photos showed the ruins and digs where the items were found. She couldn't help but notice that many of them had holes where something had been removed, and others were missing bits and pieces that had probably been precious stone trim.

One mask in particular seemed to call to her. It looked more like a woman's face, smaller and rounder than the larger masks that flanked it. She ran her fingers over the curved inscription...

"Wisdom." She gasped, whirling around in surprise. "That's the ceremonial mask for the Guardian of Wisdom." The man behind her was small and thin, nearly skeletal. He had silvery hair slicked back to a hard shine. His fashionable gray suit and patent leather shoes were rather tight on him. "They were always women."

Leia nodded. "Alderaan was one of the few Mesopotamian cultures that gave prominent roles in its society to women."

His smile gave Leia chills. "They were also one of the most powerful cultures in Central America in their time. Their Swords of the Guardians were said to be unstoppable. Each Guardian had their own power, and when brought together, they had the might to bring enemies to their knees."

Leia snorted. "The Swords were said to grant the users telekinesis, psychic powers, and strength beyond mortal man, if I remember the folk tales correctly. They could also shoot beams of light that were hot enough to destroy whole temples."

He gave Leia a condescending sideways glance. "Most folk tales have some basis in truth."

"Exaggerated a bit," she added. "No weapon could grant that much power."

"You'd be surprised, dear girl." He smirked at her. "Wasn't the late Dr. Organa studying those folk tales? I believe he made quite a specialty of them."

Leia glared at him. "Papa Bail wanted the Swords for the good of mankind. He believed even ordinary people could benefit from studying them."

"Ordinary people," Tarkin sniffed, "have no idea how to wield power. Power belongs in the hands of those who truly understand its responsibilities."

She gave him a sideways glance. "Like the Empire?"

He chuckled. "The Empire more than anyone." The bony hand gently picked up a statue made of a greyish stone, a statue of a warrior with his sword poised over his head, ready for battle. Leia swore there were empty spots on the base, possibly where decoration had once been. "By the way, I'm sorry to hear about Dr. Organa's death. It was quite a tragedy."

"Yes, it was. They're still investigating." She looked up at him. "You know, it's very interesting that you just happened to come across the Sword two days after my godfather and his colleagues were killed."

He snorted. "Coincidence, child."

"Is it?" She continued to gaze at the mask. "He called me and told me he made a major find the night before he died. It vanished when he did, along with his research and maps."

Tarkin's sunken eyes seemed to bore into her soul. "I wonder what happened to his research, and the map? They would certainly be helpful with finding the remaining swords."

Dr. Mothma swept in before Leia could hit him over the head with the damn mask. Her boss had traded her simple white suit for an elegant pale-green afternoon dress and matching green hat. Leia was grateful for her reassuring presence. "Hello, Tarkin. I haven't seen you since you were at the Society for Archaeological Discovery's annual convention in St. Louis two years ago."

Tarkin's chilly smile was aimed towards his fellow treasure collector. "Hell, Dr. Mothma. It has been a long time. Still teaching young minds how to rob graves?"

"We teach them how to seek the truth." She gave the assemblage of objects in the room a disparaging glance. "Which is more than you can say. You can't even catalog your collection properly."

Leia started dusting a small statue of a mother and her child with her handkerchief. Tarkin slapped her hand away. "Vader has people who do that once a month."

"Oh yes, that reminds me." Dr. Mothma gave Tarkin her most charming smile. "Where is our host? I did want to ask him about that donation to UCLA's archaeology department he mentioned a few weeks ago."

"I'm afraid he's indisposed at the moment." Tarkin shook his head. "He has a rather nasty cold. It wouldn't be polite to spread it to our guests."

Dr. Mothma sighed. "I suppose not."

A tall man in the stiff gray uniform of the Empire stepped up to Tarkin. He whispered something in the smaller man's ear. Tarkin nodded and turned to his guests. "I'm so sorry. I'm afraid I'm being called away. Very sudden business. Would you excuse me?" He waved his hands at the room. "And by all means, enjoy our collection.

Dr. Mothma started down the hall. "If Vader's sick, I'm a canary. I saw him skulking down the main hall ten minutes ago, haranguing one of the men in Imperial uniforms about delays on some weapon at the factory."

Her former pupil looked intrigued. "I wonder what Tarkin's hiding?" Leia looked down the hall. "I think he had Papa Bail and his men killed for his research and whatever it was that he found on that dig."

Dr. Mothma looked thoughtful. "Didn't Bail send you something important from Guatemala?"

Leia laughed. "Papa Bail always sends Luke and me little gifts when he goes on digs. It's probably just a statue or some earrings or something."

"I'm not so sure." Her boss' eyes glittered. "I think he may have sent you his research."

"Me? Why me?"

"I don't know." She gave her watch a quick look. "I think we both need to go. Check your mail when you get in. Call me the moment you can get to a phone."

"Right." Leia was starting to feel more and more uneasy. She hadn't really thought much about the package Papa Bail had sent her...but now, it seemed to be the crux behind his death and missing discovery.

She was never so grateful to see Artie waiting for her outside with the Packard. Luke had their car, and Mama Breha was spending time with her relatives in Mexico City. Artie was a short, squat man with skin the color of rich cocoa and glossy black curls. They set off his blue and white driver's uniform nicely. He'd been Papa Bail and Mama Breha's driver and handyman for the last twenty years, since right after the war. She normally loved to hear his stories about his childhood in Harlem and his work during the war, but she was too nervous for his chatter today.

He tipped his hat for her. "Where to, lady?" His voice made her giggle. He was such a big man that you expected him to have a booming voice, but it came out more like a nasal beep.

"Our apartment. I have to get home."

He opened the back passenger's side door. "You ok, kiddo? You don't sound so good. Maybe you need to make some hot lemon tea. My mama always said it's good for what ails ya."

"Yes, I'll do that." Actually, tea did sound nice. She was hoping that the awful feeling fluttering around in her stomach was wrong. She knew Papa Bail trusted her...but with something like this? Why didn't he send it to the Archaeology Department? Or the police? Was it really that sensitive? This was all sounding more and more like an Agatha Christie novel. She wondered if she should look for Inspector Poirot snooping around a garden party somewhere.

The moment Artie stopped at her building, she leaped out the door and hurried inside, taking the steps two at a time and ignoring the strange looks from her landlady. She pulled out her key...but the door opened easily.

The three-room apartment she shared with Luke was normally charming, if a bit cramped, with a lovely view of the hills and LA. Someone had worked it over from top to bottom. Pillows were flung off the slightly faded couch. The contents of the icebox and the cabinets were scattered on the floor. The eggs pooled in a mushy mess over the embroidered place mats Mama Breha made them a year ago. Luke's books on journalism and trashy mystery novels and her archaeology textbooks and old copies of National Geographic were flung recklessly on the hardwood floor. The sheets had been yanked off both their beds, the mattresses slashed and the stuffing thrown out. Photos of them with school friends, with Uncle Owen and Aunt Bertha on their farm, and at their high school graduation lay broken on the floor, the shattered glass mingling with the broken lamp from the overturned side table.

She leaned over and picked up her favorite photo of her godfather. He was standing by a ruined temple in Guatemala, looking every inch like the type of adventurer archaeologist who searched for death rays and lost cities in the serials. Bail Organa wore nothing but a pith helmet, a half-opened work shirt, and a pair of slacks. His hair, normally slicked back, was scruffy, and his eyes shined with the light of discovery, even in the black-and-white photo. She missed him so, so much.

"Leia?" She gasped and turned around. Her brother emerged from the bathroom, his tanned face ashen. "Thank god you're all right!" He swept her into his arms for a huge hug. "I came home from work ten minutes ago, and everything looked like this. The bathroom's worse. You don't want to know what they did to the toothpaste."

"Luke," she said, trying to control the tremor in her voice, "have you gotten our mail yet?"

Luke's eyebrows raised in confusion. "No, why?"

She started stuffing clothes and the few toiletries that weren't ground into the tiles in her small leather suitcase. "We have to get out of here. The Empire is after me...and now, they're probably after you, too. I have to call Dr. Mothma at UCLA, and you need to call Benton Kenobi." She stopped and gently removed the photo of Bail from the broken glass before adding that to the pile, along with a photo of her, Luke, Papa Bail, and Mama Breha at their college graduation.

Her brother stood in the middle of the room, blinking. "Leia, what's going on?"

She took his shoulders and directed him towards his own bags. "Start packing. Grab anything important or that you don't want the Empire to know about."

"Leia, what about my job? What about your job? What about Harry, and Benton Kenobi?"

She sat on her suitcase to close it. "Luke, if this works out, you and Kenobi will have the story of the century! Vader Enterprises is in on this. It was probably his goons who ransacked our apartment. There's a connection between him, Tarkin, and the Swords of the Guardians. I know it." She looked up as the metal snaps clicked into place. "And it'll be your job to find out just what it is."

Luke was tossing his own clothes into a brown cloth satchel. "I still don't understand any of this, but if it'll help Ben and me get the drop on Vader..." He shrugged. "I'm all for it."

She grabbed her purse and suitcase. He picked up his satchel and portable typewriter. "Anybody have to go to the bathroom?" Leia asked with a small grin.

Luke answered back with a grin of his own. "Nope!"

They hurried to their landlady at the reception desk the moment they made it downstairs. "Do you have any mail for me?"

The elderly gray-haired woman handed Leia a wide, long envelope. It was postmarked Guatemala City. She could see her godfather's slightly spidery script. "That's some love letter, hon."

Leia gave her a nervous smile. "What makes you think it's a love letter?" Luke chuckled and nudged her.

"I keep hopin' for you, hon. For both of you." The older woman patted her hand. "You're nice children. You really should find some lovely young people who can take care of you." 

"Yes, well, thank you. We need to get going." Leia didn't really have the time to discuss their love lives. "Please tell anyone who asks that we're on vacation and we'll be gone for at least a month." Luke was on the phone in the lobby, hopefully talking to Benton Kenobi. As they left, she swore she saw the same man in the black and green suit with the red tie who was at Vader's party watching her through his menacing dark sunglasses. When she looked again after Luke got off the phone, he was gone.

She nearly rolled head-first into the Packard the moment Artie opened the door. Luke followed quickly. "Get us to Alderaan Manor as fast as you can without breaking traffic laws. And step on it. I think we're being watched."

Artie grinned the moment he put his foot on the gas. If there was one thing he loved, it was excitement. "Somethin' goin' on, kiddo? There been a murder? You saw Clark Gable?"

"I wish it was that simple." She was pretty certain she could trust Artie. "Our apartment was ransacked. It's a wreck. I think they were looking for this." She waved the envelope in his face.

Artie grinned. "Nice envelope. Someone really needs to send something?"

Luke frowned. "All this over an envelope?"

"Not the envelope!" She shoved it between her knees. "They're after what's in the envelope. I think Papa Bail sent me his research from Guatemala."

"He always did say he could trust you, kiddo." Artie gave her his smile, which was awfully cute for a guy as big as he was. "He used to talk about you like you were his own child. He would have been so proud of you." Artie nodded at Luke. "You too, boy. I heard you n' Kenobi do some good work for the Star. I don't read any other paper."

Luke looked surprised. "You know Benton Kenobi?"

"I know a lot of people." Artie grinned. "Me n' Kenobi, we worked together a few times durin' the Great War."

Leia's mind wasn't on Artie's words. Her eyes was glued to the back window as the two men chatted. "We're being followed."

"What?" Artie looked behind him. "Kid, that ain't possible."

Leia nodded at the huge black-and-green car trailing discreetly behind them. "Tell that to him." 

Artie finally saw the car in the rear view mirror. He let loose with several creative expletives as he turned hard on the wheel. "I'm going to see if we can throw them off our trail."

The car's occupants ducked as noisy explosions were heard on either side. "Damn it, now they're shooting at us!" She pulled her gun out of her purse and leaned out, exchanging fire. Luke ducked down further in the seat, trying to avoid the gunshots. She could see a man in a huge, heavy white coat and matching white and black hat, his face blurred under the wide brim. His gun was bigger, but at least the white made him an easy target. And, she was amused to note as she hit his arm, he couldn't aim for beans.

"There's a narrow road in the back of the Manor." Artie made another precarious turn, this time nearly side-swiping two Fords. "It's a service road. Only servants for the mansions and fruit truckers on their way to LA use it."

"Well, hurry!" Leia looked out the window...then ducked back down when another bullet shattered the glass. "The green car is still after us!"

"Right, kid." Artie pulled onto a shady, tree-lined road. It was really more like a path. It was paved, but not well. She was grateful Papa Bail sprung for the plush seating, because she was bouncing up and down like a toy sailboat.

Luke's boyish face radiated ten-year-old joy. "That was great! Can we do it again? This is better than the Cyclone Racer!" She rolled her eyes. There were times when she just did not understand her twin brother.

She'd never been so happy to see Alderaan Manor in her entire life. The sprawling Spanish Colonial Revival mansion was one the first built in the subdivision. Papa Bail and Mama Breha snapped it up as soon as it came on the market in the early 30's.

She didn't even wait for Artie to open the door for her before she shoved the envelope under her arm and barreled out. He and Luke followed after her as she dashed into the house, through the screened back door. As she made her way through the halls, she nearly ran straight into Clarence, the tall, thin blond man who had been her godfather's assistant, translator, and personal secretary.

"Miss and Mr. Skylark?" Clarence looked more than a bit surprised. "What are you doing here? Why didn't you call ahead? I'm afraid I have no time for a visit today." His clipped British accent went up with every syllable. "I'm so busy! Dr. Organa left so much work to do before he died. I must get these papers filed, and I have two articles to write for the American Archaeological Society."

Leia was already going around the taller man in the natty yellow suit. "Clarence, you wouldn't happen to know if Papa Bail sent anything here? Anything long and thin, in an envelope..." She ducked into the neat, pale-blue office. Clarence liked his office tidy, a marked difference from her godfather. Papa Bail always said his secretary was more like a clucking mother hen than an assistant.

"What are you doing?" His eyes widened as Leia went through her late godfather's desk. "I just organized that yesterday!"

"There's something missing in the notebooks Papa Bail sent me." She spread out the contents of the envelope on the table. Artie and Luke came in behind her, reading over her shoulder. "The map to where Papa Bail was digging when he died, along with papers detailing his location. He was so secretive about it! He told me he didn't want it to leak out to the press until he brought his discovery home."

Clarence looked worried. "Dr. Organa did send an envelope here." He pulled out an impeccably organized drawer in his desk. "I have it here. It is a map." Clarence waved his hand at the fraying maps in smooth walnut frames on the walls. "I was going to find a suitable frame for it next week."

"That's not just any older map." Leia put it together with the papers from her collection. "Papa Bail sent me his notebooks detailing what he found and how he found it, but not where. This is the where."

"That just leaves why and how," Artie joked.

"Arthur, please." Clarence glared at him. "This is serious."

"That's right." Luke pulled out his beloved Argus A pocket camera and started moving around the desk, taking photos. "This could make both our careers!"

Artie tapped at the map with his finger. "This is what those guys were shootin' at us for? Some map?"

Leia nodded. "The map leads to the remaining Swords of the Guardians. I'll bet he found at least one, and that's the one that turned up in Tarkin's collection. We have to get it back."

"Tarkin has one of the Swords of the Guardians?" Clarence's long face dropped. "I heard he was shipping several major archaeological finds to Coruscant. I didn't know that was one of them."

Luke's grin was nearly as bright as his camera flash. "Ben is going to love this. We'll finally be able to get the goods on Vader."

"Clarence," Leia started, "book us on the next commercial flight to Coruscant. I have to find that sword."

The tall secretary's blue eyes nearly bugged right out of his head. "But Miss Skylark, that's not possible! Coruscant is a military zone. No commercial flight will go there! Not unless they want to get shot down."

"We're not at war with them yet." Leia gathered the notebooks and the map and shoved them back in the envelope. "Where there's a will, there's a way."

Leia heard the first whine of bullets before she saw them. She shoved Clarence to the floor. Artie did the same with Luke. "Damn it!" She reached for the gun in her purse. "I should have known they wouldn't give up that easily."

"They?" Clarence's long face was turning a shade of white normally reserved for fine china. "Whom, may I ask, are they?"

"The people who killed Papa Bail and his assistants on the dig." Leia returned fire, shooting out the window at more of the men in the white coats. "These must be Tarkin's boys. Probably just hired hands."

"They're not what you have to look out for." Artie inched along the floor to join her at the window. "It's the ones with machine guns that are the scariest. Those guys will shoot at anything, and they don't care if they aim straight."

Leia aimed and caught one man in the hand. "I don't think they really care about what they're shooting at, either."

Luke groaned, pulling his tan cotton jacket over his head. "That's good to know."

"They aren't gangsters." Leia fired off her last shot. "They're Tarkin's men. They're after Papa Bail's notebooks and the map. I don't think the police could arrest him, even if he stuck around long enough for them to catch him. He has diplomatic immunity."

Clarence reached for the phone on the table. "I'm going to call the police. They should certainly do a better job of keeping awful gangsters like this off people's property!" He yelled for the operator for several minutes before throwing down the receiver. "Oh blast it, they're busy! I can't get through!"

The quartet looked up at the same time. Harsh voices were heard in the hall, along with the sound of smashing glass and crunching wood. The young woman thrust the envelope into Luke's arms. "Luke, take Clarence and Artie and get this to Benton Kenobi as fast as you can."

Now Luke was the one who looked worried. "Leia, I can't just leave you here!"

"I can take care of myself." She nearly shoved Luke into Clarence. "Go! Get out through the side door into the citrus orchard." The three men made a break for the hall as Leia went through Papa Bail's desk. She knew he kept a gun in here somewhere. She saw him take it out once, when he was talking about how dangerous the situation in the world was getting.

She finally found the lacquered box with the small pistol just as two of the white-clad goons burst into the office. She hit one in the shoulder before rushing off to the main front door. She was hoping she could draw the goons away from her brother and the servants and give them a chance to escape.

Leia met two more goons at the door. She put up her pistol to fire...but she didn't see the goons coming up behind her. One smacked the back of her skull with the handle of his gun. She dropped to the ground, her vision swimming with stars.

"She'll be all right." The black-gloved hand before her was blurry. "Inform Mr. Vader that we have the girl he was looking for."

Those were the last words she heard before she blacked out.

She wasn't sure where she was when she awoke. Her nose was tickled by the rich scent of leather. As her eyes gradually focused, she found herself staring at the largest man she'd ever seen. Everything about him was overwhelming, from the broad shoulders that strained his heavy black suit to the wide-brimmed fedora that shaded a face so thickly scarred and battered, it would have scared the hell out of Boris Karloff. He held a long gold-topped cane that leaned against his right leg. A leather glove hid the prosthetic hand it was said he gained as a souvenir from the Great War.

All in all, he was a fearsome sight. Fearsome to everyone, that is, except for Leia Skylark.

"Derek Vader," she hissed. "You've already been forced to resign from at least three archaeological societies after it was rumored you stole Alderaanian artifacts for the Empire. If UCLA finds out you've attacked one of their people..."

"Don't play innocent with me, young lady." Vader's booming voice filled the back seat. "You were at that party this afternoon for a reason. Dr. Bail Organa sent you an envelope containing his research and maps revealing the remaining two locations of the lost Swords of the Guardians."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm an intern and secretary for Dr. Marta Mothma."

"What you are is a liar!" Vader's voice rose until it was something akin to a deep whine. "Tarkin saw you snooping around at the party, looking for the Sword of Strength."

"I was admiring your collection. By the way, you need to get someone to dust and catalog it. It looks like you randomly dropped it on tables when you stole it."

"How I found my collection is none of your concern." He leaned out the window as they drove through a spiky wired fence, giving orders to a man in the black and white uniforms of Dark Star Industries. The landscape around them was arid and barren. Leia hadn't realized how far into the hills they'd driven. Scorched palm trees and desert plants showed the remains of the wildfires that were epidemic in the area.

The building wasn't large, but it was ominous, a brick-and-steel warehouse whose red and tan exterior almost matched the desert around it. Leia didn't have too much time to look around. The moment the BMW rolled to the front door, she was yanked out of the car by two more of Vader's boys in the long white coats, her wrists tied roughly behind her back. She could smell the dust and old stone and new metal and ozone. In the distance, she thought she heard a loud and distinct "boom" and an odd sizzle.

Somehow, Leia wasn't surprised to see Tarkin behind the desk of the bland office. "General Tarkin, I should have expected to find you behind all this. Dark Star Industries has been suspected of giving arms to the Empire illegally for years."

Tarkin stood, striding over to the girl. "Charming, to the last. You do realize that what you've seen and heard here has more-or-less signed your death warrant. We can't have the information on the latest Dark Star weapon leaking to the public."

She gave him her most persuasive smile. "What is the latest weapon from Dark Star?"

"A laser cannon." Tarkin opened the bars that blocked the window closest to the testing site in the hills. "But not just any laser cannon. The Death Star has ten times the fire power of any light beam ever devised by man. The Khyber crystals from the Alderaanian artifacts that Mr. Vader has gathered from sites in Central America are built into the barrels, with the Swords in the center. The Sword of Light is safely held at the Coruscant Armory for that very purpose."

Leia laughed. "You watch too many Saturday afternoon serials."

"As I said earlier today, every folk tale has basis in fact. Even pulp fiction." His chilling smile belonged to a killer in a Universal horror film. "I will only ask you this once. Dr. Bail Organa sent you the maps and research he did on the location of the remaining swords." He backed her into Vader's massive chest. The hulking industrialist placed a heavy gloved hand on her shoulder. "I want to know where you hid the notebooks and the map."

Leia glared at him. "There's no way I'm going to tell you. Papa Bail never wanted the swords to be used to kill people. He wanted them to go to a museum."

"They would only gather dust there." Tarkin waved his hand to the massive black and gray cylinder being loaded into crates. "No, they're much better off in Coruscant, where they can aid the Empire in its spreading of law and order."

"Death and destruction, you mean." 

Tarkin continued to monitor the men loading the gun. "Sometimes, a little death is necessary to maintain control."

Vader frowned. "I told you she wouldn't talk." He went to his desk. "There are other means of persuasion that might be more appropriate in this situation."

Tarkin's ghoulish grin widened as Vader pulled a needle out of a drawer. "Oh, yes. Leftover from the last industrial spy you had to...persuade...to give up their secrets, am I right?"

Two factory workers shoved Leia into a chair. Heavy packing twine was bound around her wrists and ankles. Leia's angry brown eyes were glued to the needle as the black hand that held it came closer and closer to her upper arm under the ruffled sleeve her her white dress.

"And now, Miss Skylark, we will discuss where you hid those notebooks and the maps."

 _She was standing near the edge of pit filled with thick, bubbling yellow liquid. The heat was intense. The steam rose above her like white silk. Her white party dress had been replaced by her working outfit – a white work shirt, khaki slacks, and boots. Voices, one of them familiar, called out to her in terror. Her eyes drifted upwards, getting a glimpse of two silhouettes bound with rope, one shorter than the other, dangling over the liquid. The shorter one was startlingly familiar..._

" _Leia! Please! Help us!"_

 _Her eyes widened. "Luke!" She dashed towards the pit, her heavy-soled work boots slipping on the loose gravel. "Luke, I'm coming!"_

 _She was just about to reach the pit when another figure stepped out of the darkness. This one was dressed all in black, his long coat flowing around him like a cape. "You will not save them. They're already mine. As are you, Guardian."_

 _Leia knew that voice. "Vader, get out of my way! I have to get to my brother!"_

 _To her shock, a blue sword appeared in her hand. The sword in Vader's gloved hand glowed with an unearthly red fire. "I have two Guardians under my control. Now, I will have the third. You are all mine."_

" _NO!" She attacked him, swinging relentlessly with her sword. Her slashes went through him. She backed away as he came closer to her. Luke's screams and the other voice grew fainter in the background._

 _Vader held up a hand to her. "Come with me. It is the only way."_

 _Leia stepped back further, but her boot touched empty air. She was trapped between the edge of the cliff and Vader's open palm._

" _It is your destiny."_

 _Still clutching the sword, she finally backed into the abyss...and felt herself falling into nothingness. Luke's screams continued in the background as she fell...fell...flew...flying down..._

" _Leia, I'm here to rescue you!"_

"Huh?" She thought she was still dreaming. Luke stood before her, his blue eyes shining, his mouth curved into his huge sunshine smile. He was untying her wrists, having already finished her ankles.

"Leia, we're going to get you out of here!"

Her brother sported the long white coat, white fedora, and black gloves usually worn by Vader's goons. The fedora wasn't too bad, but the coat and gloves were too big and too long. He looked like he was swimming in white fabric and black buttons.

She gave him a small smirk. "Aren't you a little old for playing dress-up?"

He helped his sister to her feet the second the last rope fell on the floor. "Oh, you mean the coat. This was the only way we could get in here."

Leia raised an eyebrow. "We?"

"Oh, you know, us. Artie, Clarence, Harry, Charel, Benton, and me."

"Swell. Couldn't you have brought someone who knows what they're doing with them? Say, oh, the police?"

Her brother was already dragging her down the hall. "There wasn't time! Clarence was afraid they'd kill you, or worse."

"They weren't going to kill me. They want to know what I did with Papa Bail's notebooks and maps." She looked at Luke. "Please tell me the notebooks and maps are all right."

"They're fine. They're in the glove compartment in the Packard." Luke pulled a large black gun out from under his coat as shots were heard down the hall.

A tall man with scruffy reddish-brown hair in a similar coat and hat dashed almost right into them. He was followed by the biggest, hairiest being Leia had ever seen. He might have had a rather handsome face, if she could find it under his flowing walnut hair and bushy beard and mustache. Even the long hands that clutched the black gun were covered in hair. If the coat was too big for Luke, it couldn't begin to cover him. His linebacker shoulders strained in the fabric.

"Uh, I had a little problem convincing the guards at the door I was one of Vader's boys," the smaller man admitted sheepishly.

"Harry!" Luke pushed Leia against the wall, just barely missing a bullet. "That was our only way out!"

The giant let out what sounded like a cross between a bark and a series of low-pitched groans. "Yeah, I know, pal. I shouldn't have chased those goons. Damn it, I thought I could take 'em!" A short bark was followed by a booming guffaw. "Well, I would have, if they hadn't suddenly multiplied on me!"

Leia ignored this enlightening conversation in favor of staring at the ceiling. There was a square right above her head, covered by what looked like a grate. She could probably move it, if she could just get to it. She grabbed Luke's gun, shot off several bullets into the hall, then tossed it back to her brother. "There's an air duct over our heads. It might be our ticket out of here."

The taller man started whimpering, but Harry smacked his shoulder. "Aw, come on, you big coward, you can fit!" He tossed Leia his gun and threw off the coat, revealing a slightly frayed tan bush shirt rolled up at the sleeves.

Leia gave the giant her sweetest smile. "Would you please lift me high enough to open that grate?"

The tall man did so, scooping her into his arms as easily as a child picked up a rag doll. She used the gun to knock out the grate, pushing it aside. "It's fine. Dark and dusty, but fine."

She and Charel helped Luke, then Harry, through the grate. It took all three of them to pull the hairy giant through, and even then, it was a squeeze getting him in.

Harry waved a hand over his nose. "The air duct was a really brilliant idea, doll face. And what a terrific smell you've discovered!"

"It could be worse, you know." Leia was already crawling down the dark, rectangular corridor.

"Yeah," Luke added cheerfully. "At least we're all still alive."

After a few twists and turns, Leia finally came to another grate, this one with light at the end. "I think this is it." She shoved at it for a few minutes before it finally gave way.

The large room she dropped into was filled with nothing but crates, statues, and artifacts. Everything from enormous statues to broken pottery lined the shelves and filled crates. Harry came out next. He'd slapped what looked like the brown cap of a US Army Air Corps pilot without its insignia on his head during their crawl. "Looks like you found UCLA's basement." He picked up what appeared to be a gold statue of three warriors, two men and a women, carrying swords. "Too bad it looks like a lot of these are missin' parts." He ran his fingers over indentations in the tiny golden swords and masks where crystal trim had been. "Do you know how much I could get for this on the open market if it was complete?"

Leia rolled her eyes. "We're not here to discuss your current job occupation." She picked up a statue of a woman warrior with similar indentations. "These must be the artifacts Vader stripped of crystal to make that pipe dream out there."

Luke's eyes widened. "The pipes? I thought they were some kind of big gun."

"They are." Leia put the statue back on the shelf. "Vader's using the Khyber crystals to power some cannon. He's calling it the Death Star. Tarkin thinks it'll help control the world, or some such thing."

Luke's blue eyes were huge. "I've got to get this to Ben. This could be the story of the year!" He looked around. "We just need proof. Otherwise, no one is going to believe any of this." He whipped out his camera and started taking as many pictures as he could.

Han snorted as he admired what had likely once been a jeweled spear. "Sounds like Vader's been reading comic books on the sly." Charel snorted and tossed a stream of what sounded like gibberish in Han's direction. "Ok, so I like _Dick Tracy_. And maybe _Terry and the Pirates_. And sometimes _Flash Gordon_. They just draw Dale Arden so well!"

They all looked up at the same time as Charel let out what sounded something like a growl to Leia. "Damn it. He says he hears footsteps. Probably more of Vader's boys." He grinned. "Char, pick up that crate over there. I just hope there's nothing important in it." The moment the worker came in, Charel dropped the crate over his head, knocking him out instantly. Harry grinned. "Nice shot, buddy. Come on, let's get out of here."

"Not without my proof." Leia grabbed the two statues she and Luke were looking at and wrapped them in Harry's discarded white coat. "I know this is stealing, but it's likely these were already stolen anyway."

Harry nodded. "Probably smuggled goods. Wouldn't be surprised if Vader has a whole operation going here."

Leia gave him a smirk. "And you'd know something about smuggling, wouldn't you?"

Harry had no trouble giving her a lazy grin back. "Maybe."

Luke held up his camera. "And I got my pictures. There should be enough in here to at least start an inquiry as to where all this came from and why it's missing pieces."

Charel peered out the door. He rushed over to Harry, letting loose with more gibberish. Tarkin strode through the entrance moments later, followed by Vader and more goons in white coats. "What's this?"

Luke whipped his Argus camera out of his pocket. "Hey Tarkin, say cheese!" Tarkin threw his hands over his face too late. The blond youth chuckled. "That shot will go on the front page of tomorrow's edition of the Daily Star." He checked his lens. "I hope you didn't break my camera. Did anyone ever tell you that you look like Dr. Frankenstein?"

"I've got a better idea, kid." Harry hit the officer standing next to him. Charel went with Luke's idea and started throwing them into crates. Leia grabbed the nearest chair and swung it over an officer's head, knocking him out instantly.

Vader reached for the camera and Luke's hand, but the younger man held on tightly. He finally smacked the boy on the side of his head, knocking him to the floor unconscious.

Leia wasn't going to let anyone hurt her brother. She climbed on a crate and, wincing as she did so, hit Vader over the head with one of the statues she had wrapped. He stumbled and let go of the camera.

Charel threw Luke over his shoulder as Han's fist connected with Vader's chin. It threw him back a few feet, enough for everyone to take off and out the door. Leia reached for the camera...but Tarkin took her arm. 

"Oh no, young lady. I believe there are things in this that we don't want anyone seeing." He opened the camera, took out the film, and threw it back to her. "Tell your enterprising brother he should know better than to cross the Empire." She finally kicked Tarkin in his tight boots. He let go of her, wincing, as she took off.

The factory was a maze of smoke and gunshots. She found a fallen pistol and fired off its two remaining bullets, more because she hoped to obscure their exit than hit anyone. She did her job too well. She ran into three pipes and Harry Solomon's chest before she got her bearings.

Harry gave her his trademark lazy smirk. She was already beginning to hate it. "Well, hello down there, princess. You already can't get enough of me."

She gave him her coldest glare. "Look, I don't know you. I only know you're Luke's friend. He respects you, though I can't imagine why. I'll play nice for my brother's sake, but from now on, you do as I tell you, all right?"

Harry could do death glares pretty well, too. "Look, Princess, let's get one thing straight. I'm the head of an independent company. I take orders from one person – me!"

Leia brushed past him, tossing the spent gun aside. "It's a wonder you're still alive." She ducked around the hulking man carrying the only real family she had left as she made for the exit.

The Packard and hers and Luke's Ford were waiting just outside the main entrance when they arrived. Artie leaned out the driver's side door of the Packard, his cute smile a mile wide. "Where were you folks? Clarence and the old man were ready to send out for the Army Reserves to storm the joint!" His words were countered by a faint "We were not!" from the front passenger seat.

Leia had never been so happy to see Benton Kenobi lean out the driver's side window of the Ford. His grizzled lips turned down in concern at the sight of Luke in Charel's arms."Is he all right, Leia?" his clipped British accent asked with concern.

"I think so." She ducked as the whine of bullets were heard.

Harry ran for cover in the Packard. "Don't these jerks ever give up?"

"Ben and I will take Luke in the Ford." Leia opened the back door and helped Charel get her dazed brother in. "Thanks." He gave her a short bark of gibberish that might have been "You're welcome." "You take your friend in the Packard. Tell Artie we're going to the nearest airport. We have to catch a flight to Coruscant."

"Are you crazy?" Harry leaned out of the Packard's passenger side window, still shooting goons with his ancient, heavy black gun. "You can't go to Coruscant, sweetheart! They're a military zone! They're practicing for doomsday out there!"

"I don't care if they're practicing for the Coruscant Blue Cheese Festival." She jumped in the back seat. "Mr. Kenobi, step on it. We have to get that Sword."

"Hello to you too, Leia." Benton chuckled as he started the car. "You always were so impetuous. Just like your father."

Leia pulled away from the window in surprise. "You knew our father?"

Benton nodded. "Yes. I joined him and your mother on many digs. He and I were in the same unit together during the Great War. " He closed his eyes. "Now, to get that gate open. I clipped the wires, so it shouldn't be any trouble."

The older man held out his hand and closed his eyes, his face screwed up in concentration. Luke's eyes fluttered open just in time to see a faint reddish light surround the fence. It swung open with a slight creak.

Leia and Luke exchanged similar flabbergasted expressions. "Wow," Luke breathed. "How did you do that, Ben? You never told me you were Superman!"

Ben chuckled. "Not Superman, young Luke. Just a newspaper man with some abilities that stuck to him." He leaned out the window. "Arthur, follow me. I know a few tricks that will shake them."

Artie grinned and saluted him. "Yes sir, General!"

"Better do it fast, old man." Harry looked out the window as the cars took off through the gate. "There's already three of them on our tail."

Benton took off down the dusty hillside road just as a hulking black Duesenberg blasted out of the gates. Leia grabbed Luke, pulling him away from the bullets. "Damn it, I think that's Vader. Can you shake him, Ben?"

Ben was already looking pale. "He still has them," Leia heard him murmur. "He can sense my presence. This is not good."

Leia grabbed her pistol. "What's not good?"

"Vader knows where we are." He sighed. "If I'm Superman, let's just say he's a very, very powerful and strong mad scientist...or mad archaeologist, as the case may be."

Luke was writing furiously in his battered old notebook. "I thought he was discredited...whoa!"

The young reporter was flung into his sister as the Ford swung around a series of sharp curves. He made the mistake of peering out the window. When he saw nothing but and endless stretch of steep gorge, he pulled his head back inside, his face looking a little green under its tan.

"He was discredited." Ben turned down a narrow lane that was little more than a path. "Not only did a few too many of his theories tend to come off as pure science fiction, but it's rumored that he killed men at his final digs who got in the way of his plans...including most of the remaining Jedi."

Leia leaned back in. "Aren't the Jedi a myth?"

"Hardly. While they weren't as numerous as they had been in Alderaan even in recent times, there were always at least fifty of them scattered around the globe, protecting the Swords and their powers. Now, they're all but extinct." The older reporter turned another tight curve, Artie barely following. "I'll explain more when we arrive at the air field and are on our way to Coruscant."

Leia wanted to ask more questions, but she was distracted by screams and the sound of an explosion. The three cars with Vader's goons had gone off the hill and into the gorge, going too fast to take the tight turns. Vader had rolled down with them. While he hadn't gone up in flames, he had two flat tires. She snickered when he climbed down, threw down his hat, and start stamping his foot like a spoiled child. "That should keep him occupied."

Ben returned to the main road. "It should give us just enough time to get to the air field. Luke, I've only been in the air a few times, and then only on commercial flights. I'll need directions."

Luke nodded. "Right." He leaned out the window, waving to Artie. "We're going to the air field! Follow us!"

Leia thought it was a bit of a disappointment. It consisted of one very long, wide stretch of road, two rusted hangars that had seen better days, a control tower that looked more like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and a few small buildings that seemed to have been built from old airplane scraps.

The airplane in the hangar also appeared to have been cobbled together from scraps. Even five years or so before, she might have been a worthy vehicle. Maybe. Now, the silvery outer shell was covered in more patches than the quilt on her bed at the apartment, there was a patch of something black and greasy under one worn wheel, and the propeller was bent.

The cars finally rolled to a stop next to an equally dilapidated truck whose red color now more resembled rust than paint. "You work in that thing, Harry?" Leia pointed to the silver mess in front of her. "You're braver than I thought."

Luke smirked. "I've told him for ages that it's a piece of junk."

"Funny, you two." Harry patted the door of the heavily patched vehicle. "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts. I made a lot of special modifications myself."

"Harry," Leia said quickly, "we need you to get us to Coruscant."

"Nothin' doin'." The lanky pilot leaned against a wing. "I look out for number one, sweetheart. I don't care about your swords or guns or whatever. I have my own problems right now." Charel's long stream of gibberish sounded like a disagreement. "No, we don't have time for this! Remember who's neck is on the line here. If I don't pay that money to the Hutt, I'm a dead man."

Leia stood her ground. "I'll pay you. I could call UCLA right now."

Harry and Charel looked up at her as one, now very interested. "I want ten thousand, doll."

"Harry," Luke protested, "we could buy our own ship for that!"

"But who's gonna fly it, kid?" Harry smirked at him. "You?"

"You bet I could!" Luke's blue eyes snapped. "I'm not such a bad pilot myself."

Benton Kenobi put up a hand to quiet both Skylarks. "We can pay you two thousand now, plus five thousand more after we've found the Swords."

"Seven thousand, huh?" Harry leaned against the wing, looking like he was thinking it over. "Ok, you got yourself a deal. Meet us back here in about an hour."

"What are we going to do?" Luke frowned as he and Leia gathered with Ben in a corner. "None of us have that kind of money."

Benton's blue eyes slid to Leia. "UCLA does."

Leia nodded firmly. "Dr. Mothma should be able to wire us most of it. Luke, is there a pay phone anywhere?"

Her brother waved a hand towards the collection of buildings near the hangar. "There's one at Maz's Bar. I don't know if you should go in there alone, though. It gets kind of rough."

Leia squared her shoulders. "I can take care of myself."

The bar was easy enough to find. It was the largest of the buildings that leaned against each other on the road. It looked like it had been a train dining car at one time. Now, it was a slightly rusted Army-green with a weathered sign flapping in the wind that simply said "Maz's."

The bar wasn't much prettier on the inside. Most of the furnishings must have come from the train – they were battered and scarred. She quickly asked a spry elderly negro lady with wild gray curls and thick glasses where her phone was. "Over there, hon," she said in a no-nonsense tone, before returning to the narrow bar to throw out two drunk pilots who were starting to get fresh with a waitress.

"Leia," Dr. Mothma said the moment she got through, "where are you? What happened? Your brother called me and said you'd vanished, but they had Bail's research."

"I did vanish. I'm fine now. It's a long story. And we do have Papa Bail's research." She plunked two more nickels in, ignoring the big man in the orange flight jacket who was pointing to his cheap watch. "I'm calling you because we need two thousand dollars to pay for a flight to Coruscant."

"Coruscant?" Dr. Mothma sounded more frustrated than anything. "I thought the Swords were in Guatemala. And why would you need two thousand to go there? I know commercial flights can be expensive, but that's absurd!"

"We're not taking a commercial flight." She now had a two-pilot line behind her. "A friend of Luke's who runs a charter service is flying us there."

"I don't know, Leia." Dr. Mothma sounded hesitant. "Some of those smaller charter services can be awfully dicey."

"We don't have a choice. He's the only one who'll take us there today. We're leaving in an hour." There were now three men glaring at her behind the glass. She could have sworn one was the man in the green and black suit and the dark sunglasses who was following her and Luke earlier. She didn't like how he fingered something on his belt under his jacket. "I'll pick up the money here. Look, I have to get off. Not only is there a bunch of very impatient pilots behind me, but I think I'm being followed."

"Followed?"

"I keep seeing the same man in the green suit and sunglasses. He was at the party today, remember?"

"Oh, him. He did seem to be a bit forbidding, with the glasses and all." The professor finally gave her a long-suffering sigh. "Fine. You'll get all the money I can round up in an hour...as long as you call us as soon as you've found the Swords."

"Vader has them," Leia explained quickly. "He's using them for some kind of cannon. I know it sounds crazy, but he's selling it to the Empire. One sword is already in Coruscant." She frowned as one of the men tapped the glass. "I have to go. I'll see you in a few months, as soon as we find those Swords."

"I don't like this, Leia. I really think you should..." Leia hung up before she could chastise her further. She was going to find those swords and stop whatever insane plot Vader was planning, whatever it took.

Since she still had time and she had to wait for her cable anyway, she sat at a booth in the back and ordered a soda, burger and fries. As she was finishing her burger, she heard a familiar voice.

"Yeah, I was just about to go see your boss. I swear Gredoni, this time, I have the money." It was Harry Solomon. She'd know his gruff mid-western accent anywhere. "I don't have it with me. Tell Yasmin..."

Someone said something very quickly in heavily accented Italian. Leia peered over the back of the booth. She could only see the back of a man with spiky black hair and a slightly greenish cast to his skin. Harry, now wearing a brown leather jacket with his Air Corps cap, had his booted feet on the table. "There's no way I'm goin' back with her. That's over."

More rapid Italian, this time rather smug. Harry's voice darkened noticeably. "You're touchin' the Falcon over my dead body." Leia ducked down in the booth, peering around the side. Her brown eyes widened when she saw Harry holding a gun under the table. Gredoni was starting to stand, his gun trained directly on Harry's chest. Harry was still smirking. "I'll bet you've been lookin' forward to this."

Leia couldn't have said what happened next. The moment both men fired, she withdrew, pulling herself into the back of the booth, her heart pounding. Smoke drifted over the table. When she looked again, Gredoni was slumped over the table and Harry was heading towards the bar. "Sorry about the mess, Maz." He tossed the old woman a coin.

"Solo," she said, catching the coin easily, "one of these days, you're going to get into trouble you can't automatically talk or shoot yourself out of."

The tall pilot laughed. "Oh come on, Maz. I can talk my way out of anything." He held up the still-smoking gun. "And when talkin' doesn't work, this does."

Leia jumped out of the booth. "You killed him?"

Harry smirked. "Sweetheart, in my business, it's kill or be killed. I owe his boss a little money. He came to collect. I wasn't ready to give it to her yet."

She put her hand on her hips. "Is that why you asked for so much?"

"It's my business, doll face." He lowered his gun back in his holster. "I'm gonna go talk to Charel. You still wanna do this?"

Leia straightened her shoulders and tried not to look as shocked as she felt. "Of course."

"Then I'll see you in a half-hour." Her eyes followed him as he sauntered out. Maz directed two men to drag Gredoni's body into the back.

Leia grabbed her soda and remaining fries and sat at the bar. "How long have you known Harry Solomon?"

Maz laughed, a short, infectious bray. "Him? Since he was a snot-nosed kid with a big mouth who hung around the pilots, asking them questions about how the planes worked."

"Is he...trustworthy?"

Maz adjusted her glasses. "No...but he's a better man than he thinks." The elderly woman squinted at Leia. "You know...I've owned this bar for years, and I've seen a lot of eyes. When you live as long as I have, you start to see the same eyes in people." She squinted at the young woman's large, dark brown eyes. "Your eyes are familiar. Did you know any pilots?"

She nodded. "My father flew in the war."

"I saw a lot of young men ship out to the war." She squinted further. "Many of them didn't come back...and others weren't in their right minds. Didn't recognize their sweethearts, couldn't settle down. Got violent. Wanted more than just ordinary work. They wanted power, the power to change the world. To own the world."

Leia squirmed, not liking where this conversation was going. She downed the soda and handed Maz twenty cents. "It was nice meeting you, ma'am. Thank you for your hospitality."

The older woman took the coins gently. "Please. Call me Maz" She nodded at the door. "Go talk to Harry. He needs to find home."

"I'll tell him that." There was something about the way that old lady just...stared...at her that made her uncomfortable. Matter of fact, the entire afternoon had ranged from horrifying to unsettling. She hurried out, Maz still watching her.

She met her brother, Harry, and Charel at the plane. Artie and Clarence were talking next to the cars. Ben Kenobi was nowhere to be seen. Luke saw her first, waving wildly. "Hi, sis!" His face was smudged with grease and his fingernails were black, but Leia had rarely seen him happier. "She's almost ready!"

"I hope." Leia still wasn't convinced the pile of scrap its captain generously called a plane was air-worthy. Charel was loading hers and Luke's luggage into the main door. Leia pulled the envelope with the notebooks and map out of the Packard's glove compartment and shoved it under her arm.

"She's just about done," Harry told her. "Two or three more tweaks, and she should be in great shape."

"May I remind you," Leia started, "that Vader's goons are still after us?"

Ben came in through a side door in the hangar. "Charel, thank you for letting me use your office. Luke, I just called our editor. Miss Tano says she'll give us leave and enough money for expenses, but not much else...and we have to get something on Vader from this trip. She wants to prove he's selling the US out to our enemies in Europe and Asia and is a threat to national security."

"Well, we know he is, after what we saw back at the factory." Luke sighed. "I wish I hadn't lost my camera. Vader has those pictures I took."

Leia dug in her purse, her fingers reaching for the black leather-covered square at the bottom. "Here. Tarkin took the film, so we still don't have proof, but I did save the camera. I lost my statues, too. I smashed one over Vader's head and left the other in the storage room."

Luke took the camera from his sister, checking it all over to make sure it hadn't been shot at or hurt. "It's ok!" He gave Leia one of his huge hugs. "Thanks! I can always get more film. It'll leave us more shots for Coruscant, anyway."

She was hugging him back when they heard the blast. The duo jumped apart just in time for a bullet to lodge in the blue patch over the silver hull between them. "Damn it!" Harry grabbed Leia by her arm. "Looks like we're still hot. Everyone get on board now!"

Leia wished she still had her gun. Harry and Charel covered her and Luke while they ducked into the fairly roomy cabin. She wondered if the Falcon had been intended for commercial flights at one point. Most of the seating in the very back had been removed in favor of a hastily-constructed door and metal wall that was probably where the cargo was held. Leia dove into the nearest seat and strapped herself in as fast as she could, resting the envelope on her lap.

Luke took the seat next to her. He was still grinning. "Isn't this exciting? It's better than a Warner Brothers gangster movie!"

"Luke, are you crazy?" Leia winced as bullets lodged into the Silver Falcon's already-damaged fuselage. "We're not James Cagney and Priscilla Lane. We'll be lucky if we aren't killed before we make it to Coruscant!"

Artie yanked Clarence in next. "Aw, come on, Goldie. I already called Mrs. Organa and told her we'd be on vacation for a couple of weeks. You could use a good vacation. There's no one at the house right now, anyway. Besides, they're gonna need a translator and a bodyguard." He sat down by a window.

"But I have those articles to write, and notes to organize! Please, Arthur, I'm no good in the field! And what about our bags? This isn't a vacation. It's suicide!" Clarence groaned as he settled in the seat behind Artie. "I'm going to regret this. I hate air travel!"

Benton came in next, carrying a small brown satchel. Harry and Charel were on their heels, both still shooting at the last of the goons. "Everyone strap themselves in. We're takin' off!" He grabbed his radio. "Control tower, this is Solomon. Silver Falcon is taking off for Palpatine Imperial Airport."

Luke said at least once a day that Harry was a great pilot. Leia never really believed it until she saw how he effortlessly dodged the men and the cars on the ground. Vader and Tarkin, now riding in a less-conspicuous maroon Mercury, arrived at the hangar just in time to see the Falcon ride past them.

Charel grunted and pointed a long, hairy arm at the entrance. "They're closing the doors!" Leia shouted in horror. Four men were starting to shut the opening, the creak of the rusty metal obvious even over the roar of the Falcon's engines.

"Don't worry," Harry reassured them. "I know a few tricks. We'll lose 'em."

The small plane somehow picked up speed, going far faster than any normal plane it's size should have been able to. It made it out of the hanger just before the doors closed, literally leaving Tarkin and Vader in the dust. Leia closed her eyes as her ears popped and her stomach dropped. She didn't mind flying, but take-offs could be shaky.

When she finally opened her eyes, the oval windows were surrounded by a sea of pale blue and white fluff. Clarence had a death grip on Artie's arm. His smaller friend was trying to explain that they were off the ground and were fine. Luke and Benton chatted softly in the last two seats near the metal wall, probably discussing their writing assignment. Charel passed them, growling over his shoulder as he headed for the door in the back wall.

Leia put the envelope under her seat and took Charel's place in the co-pilot's chair. Harry was leaning back in his chair, one hand steering, the other pushing his cap back. "Not a bad bit of rescuing, huh, princess? You know, sometimes, I amaze even myself."

Leia sighed. "That doesn't sound too hard. They let us go. That's the only way we got out of the factory as easily as we did."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "You call that easy?"

"I think we're being tracked somehow."

Harry patted the control panel. "Not this plane, doll."

She leaned on her elbow. "At least we got the envelope out of here safe and sound."

"What's in that envelope that's so important, Vader and the Empire want to kidnap college students to get it?"

"My godfather's research and maps to the lost kingdom of Alderaan." She drew her finger down to indicate a sword. "Vader has one of the three Swords of the Guardians. One is lost somewhere – we don't know where – and a third is in Alderaan. As soon as we get the sword from Vader, we'll need to get to Guatemala to the ruins my godfather was working on before he died and look for the second one. This isn't over yet."

"It is for me, doll." Harry waved a finger in her face. "I'm not chasing fairy tales with you and the kid and the old guy. I expect to be well paid. I'm in it for the money." He leaned back, thoughtful. "You know, if you agree to pay Char and me oh, ten percent of whatever you're getting from your boss at UCLA for that treasure, I might even consider taking you to Guatemala if I'm in a good mood."

She'd had just about enough of his bragging and wheedling. "You needn't worry about your reward," she hissed, standing as well as she could in the cramped cockpit. "If money is all that you love, then that's what you'll receive." She nearly ran into her brother on the way out. "Your friend is quite a mercenary, Luke. I wonder if he really cares about anything. Or anybody."

She ignored his "I care, sis!" and made her way in the back to Benton Kenobi. The older man was reading today's copy of the _Daily Star_. She settled down next to him. "Hello, Leia," he said with a warm smile as he put the newspaper aside. "It's been a full day, hasn't it? I haven't been on a plane in years. Not since right after the war."

"Mr. Kenobi," she said, "I want to know about the Jedi. How were you able to do what you did at the gates?"

"With the Force." He turned quietly to the young woman. "The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. The Alderaanians worshiped it. It's a kind of energy field. It surrounds us, penetrates us. It binds us all together."

"Sounds a bit hard to believe." She leaned back. "I wouldn't have bought it if I hadn't seen you open the gate."

Ben tapped the envelope in her lap. "Didn't your godfather ever tell you about the Guardians and the Force?"

"He told me about the Guardians, and the Jedi." She opened the envelope, pulling out the notebooks. "I wish he'd been more organized..." She flipped through them, finally settling on a battered book with a blue cover. "Here it is! The Guardians." She opened it and read from it, or at least as well as she could interpret Papa Bail's spidery handwriting. "The Guardians were able to use the Force with the Khyber crystals built into their swords. The Force allowed them to heal minor wounds, read and manipulate minds, transfer matter from one place to another, and dissolve matter, among other properties. The Jedi were the elite group of warriors who protected the Guardians..."

Luke sat down behind them. "Ben," he started, excited, "are you really Superman, or a superhero, or something?"

"In a way." His voice dropped to nearly a whisper. "I was once a Jedi, the same as your father."

"You told me you knew him." Luke looked surprised. "You never mentioned he was a superhero!" 

His sister looked unconvinced. "Uncle Owen told me he was an archaeologist, not some magical knight."

"He was." Ben settled back. "For almost three hundred years after the demise of the original group, some Jedi always remained to protect the Swords and their legacy. Your parents and I joined when we were on a dig in Guatemala right before the United States entered the Great War." Ben rolled up the cream-colored sleeve of his cotton shirt, revealing a bird and a sword drawn in red ink his upper arm. "The Alderaan Condor and the Sword, the two symbols of the Jedi. All Jedi have these. They were part of a ritual that involved tattoos and a great deal of chanting."

"But why you?" Leia was studying the notebooks. "You're not Alderaanian."

"The Swords always choose their successors." Ben gathered the newspaper again. "It's a part of the Force. The Force always knows whom would be best to wield which powers." He nodded at the darkening sky. "It's getting late, and we more than likely won't be in Coruscant for a few days. Why don't you two get some rest?"

Luke shook his head. "I'm too excited to sleep. I want to hear more about the Jedi."

"I need to go over that research." Leia frowned. "And we need to figure out how we're going to get into Coruscant without being seen."

"I'm way ahead of you there, young lady." Ben chuckled. "Our editor Miss Tano was an ambulance driver during the war. She still has contacts with quite a few members of the Coruscant Underground. Have you ever heard of Galton Erson?"

The twins exchanged looks, shrugging. Luke looked confused. "The British engineer? What does he have to do with this?"

"About a decade ago, Erson was among those conscripted to create new, larger military weapons and vehicles for what was then known as the Naboo Army. When Erson designed the Coruscant Armory, he built it so it would have points where it could be entered and breached." Ben gave her his small, knowing smile. "Erson's daughter, Jeanne, is a member of the Coruscant Underground. She'll be your contact. We'll meet her outside of Coruscant, near the village of Scarif."

Luke frowned. "Ben...how did Father die? No one will talk about it. Uncle Owen said he was an archaeologist, but he won't tell us much else."

Ben stroked his beard. "A young archaeologist from UCLA named Derek Vader, a former intern of my own mentor Quinton Jinn, helped hunt down and drain the remaining Jedi of their power." He looked right at the twins. "He betrayed Andrew Skylark and murdered him."

Leia shuddered. "Drained them?"

"One of the ability the Force grants is being able to absorb its power and transfer it from one being to another." Ben sighed. "Done properly, it can heal those who are tired or weakened from battle." He frowned. "Dark Jedi, or Sith, will do it without consent, or draw too much. If you draw too much power from a Jedi, you can kill him, turn him to dust. Vader was seduced by the Force's dark side."

Luke raised his chin. "Ben, do you think we could become Jedi? I want to learn more about the Force, like our father did."

"Us?" Leia raised an eyebrow. "As nice as it would be, I doubt we have that kind of power. Besides, we both have jobs to do. We're not Superman."

"If you're Andrew's children, you likely do have some Force power." He patted Luke's hand. "We'll work on it when we arrive in Coruscant."

Leia called up front. "When are we going to be in Coruscant?"

"It'll probably take at least two or three days. I'm going to have to stop at a hanger a friend of mine in Duluth owns for refueling." Harry leaned out of the cockpit, his smirk on in full. "In the meantime, enjoy the view, lean back, try to forget we're going to a military zone. It might even be fun."

Leia turned her back on him, and on Ben and Luke. She stomped over to the seat in front of Artie and Clarence. Clarence was now reading by the fading light of day. Artie was snoring, his head lulling on Clarence's tweed-clad shoulder. Charel and Harry remained in the cockpit, checking dials and wires.

She decided she would throw herself into her research. Everyone told her she couldn't be an archaeologist. Women weren't archaeologists. She didn't have the skills. They weren't capable of anything but sitting in a kitchen, listening to soap operas. She was too small, too slender, too pretty, not pretty enough. She never seemed to be enough of anything.

She was determined to prove to everyone that she did have what it took. She would find those the Swords, all three of them. Maybe she could convince UCLA to fund digs into Alderaan history. She wasn't going to let people's opinions stop her. She knew she had what it took. She was determined. She was smart. She knew South American history and culture inside and out.

She'd been studying it in some way since Papa Bail gave her a Britannica Encyclopedia set when she was 12. He was the only one who understood how much history meant to her. While Luke was making pretend interviews and writing stories, she was digging in the dusty backyard in Arizona. She'd kept some of those childhood finds – a few animal bones, some arrowheads. She thought she found dinosaur bones, but she now knew they were likely the bones of far more recent small desert animals.

She worked as hard as she could, studying in high school and college when other girls were out at dances or with their beaus. She was going to make something of herself, even if she was a woman, even if she was small, even if she was different. She was going to prove that she could be what she wanted to be.

They stayed overnight in Duluth. It took longer for Harry to fuel up than he planned. Something about a fuel gasket that wasn't aligned properly, or something. She spent the time talking to Luke and Ben, asking them more about the Jedi and the Force.

"The Force is what gives a Jedi his power." Ben swung his arms around. "It binds us, penetrates us. It ties the world around us together."

Harry snorted from the airplane engine. "Sounds like a lot of hocus-pocus to me." He held up the gun that was usually in the holster on his hip. "This is the only magic I believe in."

Luke looked up from the engine. "You don't really buy any of this, do you?"

Harry shrugged. "Kid, I've been from one side of the country to the other. I've seen a lot of strange shit. But I've never seen anything to make me believe in laser-powered swords and Force magic. That's comic book stuff."

Leia sighed. "I wouldn't believe it either, if I hadn't seen Ben open that gate with nothing but his mind."

Harry snorted from inside the plane. "Simple tricks and nonsense."

"Luke," Ben said, "I want you to try what I did back at the factory." He waved his hand at a rusted gate surrounding the hanger. "Open that gate with your mind. You too, Leia."

The twins exchanged looks and shrugged, closing their eyes. Luke focused as hard as he could, but his mind kept wandering. Leia pictured the gate opening...and felt a surprising push, a tug from some unknown corner of her mind.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Harry looking over at the gate as well, his eyes focusing. "You're crazy, old man." He was just about to duck his head back in when there was a small blue light around the gate. It opened slightly, creaking loudly.

Luke grinned. "I did it! I think I did it!"

"Let me help." Leia raised her hand. A slightly brighter blue light opened the gate a bit more. "You didn't open it all the way."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Neither did you!"

Harry smirked. "See? It's just talk." The moment he lifted the hand with the wrench, there was another blue light...and the fence swung completely open.

The twins raised their eyebrows. Ben just smirked back. "You were saying, Mr. Solomon?"

"That wasn't me!" Harry waved his hand. "I can't do magic! I'm a pilot, not a magician." Charel shook his head, pointing to the fence. "I swear, I didn't do it!" The big, furry man let out a stream of what they believed was cursing in Russian. "No, that's not how we got out of that tight spot with the Japanese bombers! It was luck!"

"In my experience," Ben said as he started back towards the plane, "there's no such thing as 'luck.'"

"Well, magic against some fence is one thing." Harry gave them the lazy grin. "Good against real people is somethin' else."

"You know," said Luke as they started towards the Silver Falcon, "I think I could almost see the fence, even with my eyes closed."

"Me too." Leia nodded. "It was like I could control it."

"Good." Ben put his arms around the twins' shoulders. "When we get to Europe, I may see if we can look up my old friend Professor Yoda Chiang. He used to be one of the foremost authorities on the Jedi and the Guardians of Alderaan, Leia." His grin grew even wider. "He was also a Jedi himself for many years, one of the heads of the order. He and Quinton Jinn, my mentor at the Star, taught me everything I know. He may be able to help both of you."

Luke frowned. "Do you know where he is now?"

"Last I heard, he was retired and was living in San Francisco." Ben sighed. "He was adamant that he didn't want to return to teaching or excavation after what happened with...well, after Vader turned on us. I think he might be willing to talk to Andrew Skylark's children, once I explain things." He nodded at the plane. "Come on. Clarence and Arthur are waiting for us at the hotel, and you know how worried Clarence can get."

Luke looked over his shoulder. "Are you coming with us, Harry?"

"I'll be along in a little while." Harry banged at the engine again. "This thing's been making noise for hours. I want to see if there's anything stuck in there."

Benton shrugged. "Suit yourself, Solomon."

As soon as the others left, Henry went back to the door of the fence. "That's crazy," he muttered. "I couldn't..." He shook his head. "Nahh. I ain't no wizard." The fingers went up again as he concentrated on the door, trying to see it in his mind, the way the old man was talking about. "This is crazy. I can't..."

That's when he heard the creak. His eyes flew open, just in time to see the blue light and the door to the fence open even wider. "I can't...it's not me." He shrugged. "Must have been the wind."

Even as he returned to the engine, leaning over to check the lug nuts, he knew he was lying. There was no wind today. Not even a breeze ruffled the endless acres of waving wheat and sunshine-gold corn.

Two days later, Harry landed them at what appeared to be an abandoned Great War airfield just ten miles outside of Coruscant City. "I think I see our contacts." A young woman in a pair of wide-legged trousers and a worn blouse and a slightly older man in a leather jacket waved their arms in their direction.

The hanger was a lot busier than Leia figured it would be. On the outside, it was merely a rusted iron half-moon. The inside was bustling with people poring over maps, checking equipment, and cleaning weapons. A very tall, balding man wearing silver-rimmed spectacles studied papers over a scarred and pitted desk.

"Welcome to the Coruscant Rebellion." The young woman was short, with long-straight auburn hair pulled back into a no-nonsense bun and hard, dark eyes. She wore wide-legged trousers and a heavy jacket and carried a pistol from the Great War on her hip. "I'm Jeanne Erson. Cassian and I," she nodded at the slightly taller man with the thin mustache and black hair, "will be your guides to the Coruscant Armory."

Cassian spoke in a lilting Spanish accent. "We have gone into the Armory before, to scout out information that will lead to Chancellor Palpatine's downfall."

"We're only interested in finding an artifact that's being kept at the Armory." Leia pulled a sketchbook out of the envelope. "It looks like this. Long sword, blue gems, thought to be blue khyber crystal, gold hilt etched with suns and vines. The blade is a special extra-hard blue khyber that was used only for the swords."

A tall older negro man with thick, salt-and-pepper hair limped over. He wore so many guns and weapons on his person, Leia was surprised he could move without falling over. "Miss Skylark." He nodded. "Saw Gerrera. I knew Bail Organa and Andrew Skylark during the Great War. I'm sorry about what happened to both of them. They were good men and good fighters, even if I did argue with Bail over battle tactics."

"Saw." Ben took his shoulder before he tottered over. "It's good to see you, friend. Still fighting the good fight?"

He chuckled. "And you're still hiding behind your pen and paper. Andy spent most of the war trying to get you to actually fight it." Saw smirked and nodded at Ben. "A Great War correspondent who hated fighting, hated driving a car, hated riding a horse, hated dirt, and wouldn't go anywhere without his tea bags and classic literature. You are a professor in a reporter's body, old friend."

"Well, I'm here for that scoop now." Ben patted Luke's shoulder. "This is my intern and apprentice, Luke Skylark."

Jeanne frowned at Harry, Charrel, and the servants. "What about the rest of them?"

Clarence spoke up before Artie could. "I think we'll stay behind and guard the ship. I wouldn't go into a war zone for all the artifacts in Guatemala!" He grabbed Artie's arm. "Besides, someone needs to make sure no one goes after Miss Skylark's work."

Harry made a face at Cassian. "Andorez, are you still playing at saving the world?"

"It's not a game, Harry. You never understood that." The small, slender Spaniard glared at him. "I told you how important all this was when you ran guns to the Republicans that one time in Guernica."

"And look how well that came out." The taller pilot rolled his eyes. "I'm here to make sure the kids and Benton live long enough for me to get my money. That's all." Charel gave him a small shove and nodded at Leia. "She's a...side benefit," he muttered to his friend.

"Kay Tooney." A tall, thin balding man in a tight black jumpsuit made his way over. "I was a linguistics scholar working in Spain with Captain Andorez's family. When my job was bombed into rubble by the Nationalists, I came here." His thin lips pursed, practically disappearing. "I got a job as a secretary to the Coruscant Senate, but let's just say the Chancellor and Tarkin didn't appreciate my sense of humor."

"We'll be accompanying you." Jeanne showed them a slightly frayed map spread out over a table made from a wide, thin plank of wood and six stacked storage crates. "My father built the Armory to make it easier to take from the inside. It has so many underground tunnels and secret passages, it's more like a haunted house from the cinema than a government building."

"What I want to know," Cassian added, "is why swords are so important. They just look like artifacts to me."

"Long story short is, the Coruscant Empire – and Papa Bail - believes them to conduct light. Light that could be hot enough to cut through metal." Leia flipped to another page in the sketchbook. "The crystals reacted to the light and the latent ability to harness the power from that light in the user." She pulled out another paper, this a sheet from a note pad with a long row of hand-written notes. "He believed that someone was stealing items from his dig and selling them to the Empire, but he didn't have the chance to figure out who before he died."

Kay looked over her shoulder, not difficult given he had a foot on her. "I find the story about the swords highly improbable."

"I do, too." Leia shrugged. "But it's what Papa Bail believed...and what the Empire believes. Governor Tarkin and Derek Vader were both adamant about the swords possessing some kind of incredible power."

"Explain it further on the way there." Jeanne had pulled off her jacket to reveal a heavy black and gray Imperial uniform, similar to the one Tarkin wore in LA. Cassian wore a black version of the same uniform under his. "You three and the three of us are going to sneak in under Tarkin's nose."

Harry made a face as Charel growled something. "Yeah, what about Charel? I don't do anything without him."

"He can work with the rest of our team in the control room." Cassian tossed Luke a gun. "Here, son. You'll need this."

Luke frowned. "I know how to shoot it, but I'd rather not use it. I hate guns."

"Suit yourself." Several people jumped aside as a heavy armored Coruscant government car came careening in. Cassian made a face. "Bodhi, be careful!" He dusted imaginary specs of dirt off his jacket. "You could have damaged this!"

"Sorry, Cass." A dark-haired head with a goatee and tanned skin popped out of a window. "I never was good at handling these heavy cars." The tall fellow was a slender, rather good-looking Arab with dark eyes and shy smile. "Looks like you got some new recruits."

Cassian patted his shoulder. "It's all right, Bodhi." He turned to the others as he opened the back passenger-side door for Leia and Jeanne. "This is Bodhi Rook, of Jedha in North Africa."

Leia frowned as she squeezed in between Jeanne and another, smaller dark haired man with exotic Asian features and cloudy eyes that never seemed to look at her. "Weren't they bombed by Coruscant three years ago?"

"Yes." Bodhi frowned. "I worked for the Coruscant government for two years as a mechanic and communications specialist, but I never agreed with their politics. I defected six months ago. Cassian brought me here."

Passing through endless trees and roads lined with greenery, they finally turned onto the main highway leading into Coruscant City. Leia had never seen a bleaker metropolis. Gray stone and granite buildings ruled the cityscape, with barely a tree in sight. Cinder block factories belched smoke into the coal-black air. Most of the people bustling to work barely noticed them. They wore plain gray woolen garments to protect against the air that never seemed warm, no matter how much the factories rumbled. Police officers stopped people on the streets to question them, sometimes even arrested them without explanation.

"Now I'm glad there's an embargo on this god-forsaken place." Henry winced under the Imperial officer's cap Cassian gave him. "As soon as Charel and I finish this, we're out of here. We have to pay off Yasmin Hutt."

"Are you still working for her?" Cassian raised an eyebrow. "Thought you said you'd broken things off."

"I did break things off. Our last job for her...didn't go as well as we hoped." He rubbed the back of his head. "We sort of owe her a few thousand dollars."

"You'll get your money, Solomon," Ben reminded him. "With interest."

Leia turned away from Harry, even as he took her hand. "There's the Old Senate building, and the new Government and Finance building. The architecture is a lot more interesting here. The newer buildings look rather like temples, don't they?"

Jeanne scowled. "Those assholes out there like to pretend that they're gods. What they are is demons, sucking everything around them dry, just like they sucked my father dry. They kidnapped him from England and forced him to work for them for years, until one of their men had him killed."

"Jeanne." Cassian shook her shoulder. "I understand that you are angry about father, but you must be calm."

"It is the will of the Force that we come here." The two Asian men next to her were both in middle age. The shorter wore slight ragged monks' robes; the taller one with the longer hair and thick mustache sported a baggy jumpsuit. The shorter spoke; he had the most gentle smile Leia had ever seen. "All is as the Force sees it."

"Do you really believe those fairy tales?" Harry's snort matched the other Asian man's. "We heard enough of them on the way here."

Luke managed to shift over to the smaller man. "Are you a Jedi?"

He gave Luke that kind smile with cloudy pale eyes that didn't seem to see him. "I am Chirruit, a monk of the Temple of the Whills in Jedha. When that was bombed in the invasion, my companion Baze and I came here. We are not the ancient Jedi, but we know of the Force. It is something we have done an extensive study on."

"If we have the time after this, could you tell my sister and me more about it?" Luke was taking his every word down on his tattered note pad. "We only just found out we had the Force."

"I wouldn't mind interviewing you myself." Benton leaned in a little closer. "Our editor would love to have a first-hand account of the bombing of Jedha."

"You'll have to do it later." Kay was reading a map of the area. "Bodhi, turn left into those gates, the ones with the Imperial symbol in the center. It looks like a cog in a wheel."

The gates themselves were impressive. Heavy black iron spikes wrapped around the length of the area, blocking most of it from view. Four guards stood at a small wooden kiosk on one side. Cassian leaned out, speaking in surprisingly good Coruscanti. He argued with them for a few minutes before whipping a sheath of papers out of his jacket. The soldiers in uniforms and high rounded helmets finally backed off. One went into the kiosk and pushed a button, allowing the gates to swing open.

The Coruscant Armory was the most impressive government building yet. While it wasn't as ornate as some of the ones on the Imperialstag, it was massive. Three gray brick cinder blocks went off in two directions and seemed to stretch for miles. Cassian took them around the back, to a smaller building that seemed to be a parking garage for officer's cars.

"Hey Cass," Harry asked as they all piled out, "how did you get those Imperial stiffs to let us through?"

Cassian flashed the card again. "I have fake ID, thanks to Saw and his people. They think we are inspectors on tour of facility."

Jeanne lead them to what appeared to be a storm door. "Baze, Charel, and Chirrut, you stay here with the car and equipment. Kay and Bodhi, you're coming with us."

"Oh, joy." Kay fumbled with the buttons on his heavy black Imperial uniform. "I don't understand why they have to wear wool in the early fall. It's impractical."

"I think they want people to suffer," Leia grumbled. Harry did cut a rather dashing figure in his gray and red Imperial officer's jacket. Not that she'd ever tell him. His head was swollen enough as it was. "They enjoy it."

The small Engishwoman rolled her eyes. "Enough." The sub-basement Jeanne lead them through was a maze of shelves, all filled with dusty books and stacks of paper. She touched a tarnished spot on one of the heavy metal shelves. A door in the shelves swung open, revealing a dark passageway. She gave Cassian a small grin. "After you, dear."

"Only because I have electric torch." Cassian held up the gleaming flashlight. "I hope no one needs the bathroom. This could take a while."

"Luke, you go with them." Ben frowned, pulling a heavy brown coat around his shoulders like a cloak. "I'll go with Baze, Bodhi, and Chirruit and shut down the main gate and any alarms they have. It's the only way we'll get out of here once they figure out what we're doing."

"I want to go with you!" Luke wailed. "What if something happens, and I miss the scoop?"

"Your destiny lies on a different path than mine." Ben patted his shoulder. "The Force will be with you, my boy. Always."

Charel shook his head, grumbling in Russian as Ben followed the two Asian men and the young Arab. "You said it, Char. Where did you dig up that old fossil?"

Luke glared at him. "Ben is a great man, Harry. He was one of the Daily Star's most respected correspondents during the Great War. He covered a lot of history. He was even in Guatemala when Papa Bail unearthed the Sword of Light."

"Why don't we fight about this later?" Cassian tossed Luke a black Imperial jacket. "We have to get to that gun, before the Imperials use it on some poor country."

Actually, it took an hour of walking up a dusty incline, but you'd never know it from Harry's complaining. "How much further?" Admittedly, he was stooped over in the narrow tunnel, built from stone and wood. "It's taking forever."

"I agree." Kay let out a yelp when he smacked his round head on the low ceiling. "I feel like we're climbing Mount Bane, and we'll never reach the top."

"We're there already, you big babies." Jeanne pulled a lever embedded into the wall and fingered a heavy black pistol with a gold handle. "Come on."

It took Harry, Jeanne, and Cassian to shove open the wooden door in the wall. They all managed to squeeze past what turned out to be a metal display case. The laser gun contained in it was all gleaming chrome and rounded turrets, like something out of _Buck Rogers_. It was surrounded by electronic consoles that winkled like red and green stars, glinting off the heavy aluminum file shelves.

"Oh my god." Leia waved her hand at a display case featuring intricate knives and short swords with golden handles. "Every single object in this room is listed as missing on that list of Papa Bail's. I recognize them from his excavation photos." She pressed her nose against the glass. "These were intended for their royal guardsmen. Only those who were in the service of the queen and her family could wield them." Two more displays were filled with armor. "And here's their ceremonial wardrobes. They should all be trimmed with khyber crystal." Her finger ran along the glass across from one helmet, which had obvious craters in the crown. "Someone pried them out, rather clumsily, too."

Cassian tapped his fingers on the gun's casing. "Why keep this here, then?"

"I...there's something about this..." Luke ran his hand around the barrel of the gun. "The Sword of Light is in here. It...calls me. It needs me."

"That's crazy, kid." Harry made a face. "Guns don't talk, unless you're shootin' at someone."

The second Luke placed his hand on the gun, the crystal within glowed with an unearthly blue light. "It...I have to get it out!" The young man ran his fingers all around the casing, trying to feel into the metal.

Kay raised an eyebrow. "It's not that improbable that crystal could speak. You may have felt the vibrations of the crystal on the metal casings."

"I know what I felt!" The young reporter tried to pry open the metal. "Darn it, it's stuck!"

Cassian had been standing at the door with Kay, his gun at the ready. "We must go." He checked his weapon as footsteps echoed in the hall. "They are coming here."

"Leia, get Luke and Harry out of here. Take the passage." Jeanne managed to lift off the glass case. To Leia's surprise and delight, no alarm sounded over the intercoms, no announcements about the security being breeched reached their ears. "Sounds like Kenobi and our boys did their jobs." She grabbed the gun and threw it into Luke's arms. "We'll meet you back at the car."

They didn't have time. Jeanne had no sooner handed Leia the gun than four officers trooped in. A fat, arrogant red-haired man in a black officer's uniform sniffed at Jeanne. "I heard there were inspectors in this building. Were you authorized to remove this weapon from the premises, Herr officer?"

"He is." Kay flashed his tag, speaking in fluent Coruscanti. "I am Kay Twomby, historian at the Armory's military library. These people are inspectors. They're making sure that the historical electric and plumbing in this building are up to Coruscant standards."

"I wasn't notified," the officer sniffed. "I'll have to check."

Harry grinned at Luke. Cassian smirked. "Look out!" Harry "accidentally" nudged the gun as Luke set it back on the table. Cassian leaped onto two officers, while Jeanne elbowed another in the gut.

Luke felt around the control panel on the gun, trying to figure out how it worked. "Come on," he grumbled. "Which one turns this thing on...whoa!"

He, Kay, and two officers managed to jump away just as a blue beam of light sizzled across the room. It burned into the wall opposite, slicing two golden Alderaanian spears neatly in half and burning a hole clean through a metal display unit.

"Luke, watch where you aim that weapon." Kay's voice was calm, but his skinny frame shook like the remains of the shelf hanging by rung. "I don't think you need to slice us in half along with everything else in this building."

"Besides," Leia added indignantly, "those were priceless artifacts!"

Jeanne was already trying to force the tunnel door back open. "It's stuck!" Cassian joined her, swearing profusely in Spanish and Catalan, but the door wouldn't budge. "It's no use," she panted. "We'll have to go out through the front."

Leia was grateful for their uniforms. No one gave them a second look as they emerged into the main hall. They didn't even notice the large object wrapped in paper that Luke cradled in his arms. Harry was about to round the corner when he pulled back and pushed the others with him. "Oh hell," he muttered. "Guess who's coming this way."

Governor Tarkin lead several men down the gray and red hall, all wearing officer's uniforms. Derek Vader skulked by his side in his usual black suit and wide-brimmed hat that shaded the worst of his mangled face. One of the officers was giving him a glare that probably would have downright frightened anyone of a less-intimidating stature. "The Krennic cybomagnetic gun is now the ultimate power in Europe. I suggest we use it on something more than a government building. Perhaps destroying a good chunk of London or Munich."

"Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've created." Vader shook a leather-gloved finger in the officer's face. "The ability to destroy a country is insignificant next to the power of the Force and the khyber crystals."

"Don't talk to me about your childish nonsense, Vader," the man sneered. "Your sad devotion to a dead religion hasn't found us the other swords, or given you clairvoyance enough to..."

His words ended in a gasp. Vader raised his hand...and the man lifted in the air, clutching at his throat. "I find your lack of faith disturbing, Captain Motti."

"Vader, enough of this," Tarkin snapped. "Release him!"

"As you wish." Vader let him drop to the floor. Motti almost landed on his knees, his face the color of brittle paper. "Tarkin," he began, "I sense something. A presence I've felt only once in the past twenty years. There's someone..."

Luke didn't get out of the way fast enough. He ran right into Vader when he turned the corner. "What are you doing with that, young man?" Vader raised his hand...and a dark blood-colored light shot out, wrapping around Luke's throat and lifting him into the air. "It's not polite to take things that don't belong to you."

"Get off my brother!" Leia saw red the moment Luke was lifted like a rag doll, his feet flailing helplessly under him. She angrily pulled the triggers on her gun without thinking. To the shock of everyone but Tarkin, a small red light flickered in front of his hand, deflecting the bullet. "How did you do that?"

Motti grabbed Jeanne's wrist. "I'd like to know the same thing. Such hocus-pocus can usually only be found in fairy tales."

Harry lunged for Vader. "How's this for hocus-pocus, Ugly?" Leia ducked away as his fist landed in Vader's face. A faint green light illuminated his hand when it hit his scarred nose, throwing him all the way across the hall and into a squad of white-garbed goons coming around the hall. Luke dropped to the floor, his hand around his neck. "Hey," he smirked, "I think I have something here." His flailing fists sent Motti upwards so hard, he landed awkwardly in a gold and crystal chandelier.

"Don't touch my Jeanne!" Cassian went after Motti, but two of the soldiers tried grabbing at him.

"It's all right, love." Jeanne elbowed Motti, then jammed her knee into a sensitive spot. He doubled over, allowing her to smack him over the back. "I can take care of myself."

Luke took the gun from Leia as she went to help Harry. "Come on!" He muttered. "Don't fail me now!" As he felt around the casing, the blue glow lit up the barrel, the light spilling out, flowing around Luke. It melded with him, outlining him like a sparkling chalk drawing. Blue beams blasted from the barrel, cutting furniture in half and setting several walls on fire.

"You..." Vader's hiss was deeper, more like a snarl than a hiss as Tarkin helped him to his feet. "It's you. It's your presence I'm sensing. Yours and..."

He didn't get the chance to respond. Another light nearly parted his wide-brimmed fedora and black wig. Half the hall was going up in smoke. "Never mind that." Tarkin waved his hand at the group ducking into the billowing flames. "We have to get that gun back!"

"Oh no, you don't!" Leia shot the chandelier Motti had abandoned. It crashed to the ground, sending shards of crystal and pieces of glass everywhere. She tried shooting Vader, but the hulking industrialist easily deflected it into the wall.

They heard the squeal of an alarm as the soldiers surrounded them. "We'll have to deal with them later." Tarkin nodded at his troops. "Terminate the English girl, the tall one, and the Spaniard. Bring the others unharmed." He took off, with Vader following rather reluctantly.

"We'll discuss the mumbo-jumbo later." Harry pulled out his own gun as four more soldiers came in, this time armed. "I'll meet you back at the car!" With that, he took off like a shot down the hall away from the smoke, yelling like a lunatic at the top of his lungs.

"Well," Leia admitted, "he certainly has courage."

Luke rolled his eyes. "What good will it do if it gets him killed?"

"Harry may be loco, but I think he has the right idea. The smoke, it is getting thicker." Cassian pulled out his own gun, shooting at Vader as well as he could while coughing heavily. "We'll meet you at main entrance."

"I've already contacted the others." Jeanne started down the hall after him. Kay followed, muttering complaints about Cassian's impulsiveness.

"Let's get out of here, little brother, before the sprinkler system kicks in and Vader knows what we're doing." Leia shot off her pistol as Luke smashed the ray gun against the wall...revealing a beautiful flat polished sword with hard crystal edges and a finely-etched silver handle with three blue jewels down the side.

"Luke!" Leia groaned. "They needed that gun to inspect it!"

"They have the files." Luke cradled the sword in his arms. "It needs me, Leia...and Ben and I need this story." He gave her his sunny grin as they started back down the hall. "Don't worry. I'll donate it to the museum after we've found its mates."

Leia rolled her eyes and shot at another guard. "How generous of you, brother."

Fortunately, it turned out that they weren't that far from the main entrance. "There it is!" Leia turned a corner into the lobby, with Luke fast on her heels, running for the light at the end of the thick smoke.

Her brother groaned behind her. "But there's at least six guards around the door, and ten more outside! How are we going to get out of here?"

Harry was already hidden in an alcove across from the main door when they popped in next to him. "What kept you?"

"We ran into some old friends." Leia peered across them; Jeanne's reddish-brown hair and Cassian's heavy jacket just barely peeked out from behind a heavy tapestry depicting Darth Bane and other famous figures of Coruscanti mythology. "I think the others are all right. We just have to get past those soldiers somehow."

Luke's breath caught in his throat as Vader stepped into the main hall. Ben came from the other side, his long brown coat trailing behind him like a cape. "Benton Kenobi," he hissed. "Came back to finish what you did in the Mufasar Temple?"

"No, Vader." To Leia's surprise, a green glow surrounded Ben's hands...a glow similar to the one she saw on Harry's hands when he hit Vader. "I never wanted to hurt you. Only stop you from committing more murders in the name of that madman."

Vader raised his hand, red light glowing within. "You should not have come back, old man."

"You can't win, Vader." Benton gave him a small smile. "If you strike me down, you'll become more powerful than you could possibly imagine."

Their confrontation had attracted quite a few onlookers, including most of the officers and Vader's men. "Now's our chance." Harry waved his gun at the exit and gave Luke a push. "Go, kid!"

"Ben?" Luke joined the onlookers, scribbling notes like crazy, even with the sword under his arm. "Ben, what are you doing?"

His mentor and friend just gave him the small smile and stepped back, letting Vader level two punches into his face. The moment his fists struck him, the blood-red light writhed around his body, tearing it apart until it dissolved into dust.

"NO!" Someone screamed. Luke was pretty sure it was him.

"Kid, come on!" Han grabbed his arm. "Blast the door!"

Luke wouldn't remember holding up the flat-edged sword later, or the blue light that leaped from the khyber crystals that left the heavy wood and metal entrance in splinters. He didn't even remember Charel pulling up with Bodhi beside him, and the rest of them piling in. Leia put his arms around him, and he barely noticed. He didn't see the orange flames leaping out of the west wing of the Armory, or hear the sirens of fire trucks wail in the distance.

"I can't believe he's gone." The young reporter looked at the notebook clutched in his other hand. "He...Vader killed him...we'll never get to turn in this story together. What will I tell Miss Tano?"

"There wasn't anything you could have done." Leia gave him a gentle hug. "It happened too quickly."

"We're not out of Coruscant City yet, kid." Harry leaned out a window as bullets shattered the back pane. "Leia, you've got your gun. Charel, got yours?" The massive Russian man nodded and held up a long, heavy rife.

"Who is that guy?" Luke peered over their shoulder at the red and green plated truck behind them. "He's not an Imperial. That pin-stripe suit says 'mafia,' not 'Coruscant Army.'"

"I don't know," Bodhi squeaked as a bullet just missed his arm by an inch, "but he's not a quitter!"

Leia nearly fell out the window as she took a few pot shots. "Hey," she yelled to Luke, "I know who he is! That's the guy who was following us back in LA!"

"Damn." Harry leaned out the other side, ducking two more bullets from behind them. "I'd know that vehicle anywhere. The jerk is Roberto Fettara, bounty hunter, assassin, and professional pain in the ass. He'd shoot his own mother if the price was right."

"Wish there was a way to get them off our tail." Bodhi turned a hard right, throwing everyone into each other. Harry's gun went sailing out of his hand, even as he landed in Leia's lap.

"Well, hello there, sweetheart." Harry smirked. "We keep running into each other."

Leia pushed at him. "Would you get off me?"

The man whose lap she currently occupied gave her his lazy grin. "Don't get excited!"

"Mr. Solomon," Leia snapped, "being held by you isn't quite enough to get me excited."

Bodhi made a face. "You two are worse than Jeanne and Cassian."

"I think it's romantic!" Luke's sweet face had a big, goofy grin. "So, when are you going to get married?"

Leia glared at him. "Luke, we just...ack!"

Another car rammed into their fenders. Cassian leaned out of the other car alongside them, an Imperial vehicle. "We're going to have to split up. Who's the other guy? I've never seen the one in green before."

"Roberto Fettara. It's a long story." Harry scrambled over Leia to the window. "You guys lead off Vader and his boys. We'll get rid of Fettara. I know how to deal with him."

"I know back streets from spy work," Cassian shouted over the car engines. "We'll get rid of them." He turned down a narrow lane that lead into the older neighborhoods in the valleys. Most of the Imperial cars continued after them, but Fettara's truck and Vader's shiny black Dusenberg stuck doggedly to their trail.

Leia yelped when Harry flung open the door, grabbing hold of it. "Go that way." He pointed toward a garbage truck. "See if you can get alongside, or better yet in front of, that."

"Well, all right." Bodhi swerved around the truck, sending Luke and Leia headlong into each other. "It's your funeral, Solomon."

"Harry, are you crazy?" Leia rubbed her head. Luke's blue eyes were wide. Charel tried to grab him back in, but missed. "You're not in a Saturday afternoon serial!"

Harry's eyes were on the cars behind them. "They'd be crazy to follow us, wouldn't they?" He shot the tires on the garbage truck as they went by. It sputtered to a stop as the car sped across Plagueis Square and down Dooku Road. Leia managed to yank him in as Fettara's armored vehicle ran headlong into the back of the garbage truck, unleashing its rotting and smelly contents all over it and the road. Every bit of traffic was stopped in its tracks, including Vader's car.

"Hey, that was pretty good!" Bodhi grinned at him as he swerved around another corner between aging shops and tenements. "You're all right, Solomon. Nutty as a fruitcake, but all right."

Charrel reached a long, hairy arm over the seat and swatted Harry in the head. "What?" Harry grumbled over a stream of Russian curses in a booming bass. "I did it, didn't I? Didn't even get a scratch!"

Though she kept an eye out, Leia was glad to notice that they seemed to have shaken their pursuers for the time being. "I think we'd better go in two separate groups when we get back to the hangar." Luke pulled out his notebook, flipping it open to a certain page. "I got Yoda Chiang's address in San Francisco from Ben before he..." He gulped, then went on. "Well, I want to find him and see if we can get some help from him. Not only does he know more about this Force business than you or me, but he's an authority on the Jedi and the Alderaanian culture."

"Great." Leia groaned. "Luke, you can't just go wandering off wherever you please!" She threw up her hands in the air in frustration. "You know what? Do what you want. Everyone always leaves me in the end anyway."

"Leia, stop." Luke put his hands on her shoulder. "We need someone with credentials who can help you with the translations and figuring out all of Papa Bail's notes."

"We need to find the other swords." Leia frowned. "It'll take more than the six of us to decipher those notes and round up a crew. I need to call Dr. Mothma and see if she can recommend anyone reliable who would be willing to work for experience. I don't have much to pay them right now."

"And we need to get in touch with our boss." Charrel's growl was pointed. Harry rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know. Fettara's one of Yasmin's boys. I told her I'd pay her as soon as I got the money." The growl turned darker. "I'm all too aware of what Yasmin does to men who defy her. I've seen guys get their testicles hacked out, and..." He turned to his audience with a smirk. "Sorry, sweetheart. Your delicate ears didn't need to hear that."

Leia only crossed her arms. Luke and Bodhi were the ones who turned pea-green. "I've done extensive research on Aztec tribal rituals and interrogation methods. What they did to their prisoners would make Al Capone look like Shirley Temple."

Bodhi was relieved when their rusty headquarters made its first appearance over the horizon. "We're here!" The nervous driver nearly swerved into the hangar. "Everyone out!"

"Thank god." Luke stumbled out first, running for the nearest bush. "I don't feel well."

A second Imperial car showed up minutes later. Jeanne tumbled out first. "They're coming." Cassian was already making for the hangar, while Baze checked his own snub-nosed rifle and Chirriut meditated against the car. "We shook them for a few minutes, but there's more."

"I think this is a good time for you to go." Chirruit said quietly to Leia. "This is our fight. You found what you came for." The Chinese man in the monk-like robes strode over to her. "By the way, I am sorry about your older friend. I heard of Benjamin Kenobi when he was a correspondent in Jedha during the Great War." He leaned on his long, ornately carved wooden staff. "Your name is Skyark. Any relation to Andrew Skylark?"

Leia nodded as Luke returned, wiping his lips and carrying his sachel and typewriter and Ben's small suitcase. "He was our father. He's dead now. He died before we were born."

Baze came up behind him quietly, like a ghost. "Andrew Skylark worked in Jedha for several years, digging up ancient temples from the time of the earliest part of our order, the Whills. They said he was a good man, but a temperamental one. Could be hard to work with, especially after the Great War."

Luke winced as shooting was heard in the distance. "I wish I could ask you more, but we don't have time. Do you know anyone who can fly me to San Francisco?"

Kay looked up from where he'd hid behind a car. "Wally Antilles should be in the hangar. He's the best pilot we have. I know he was working on the Rogue this morning."

"Luke! Leia!" Clarence rushed out and threw his arms around both of them, nearly weeping with relief. "Oh thank heavens! You have no idea how worried we've been! I thought we'd never see you again!"

Artie rolled his eyes as he followed him. He patted Luke on the shoulder. "Glad to see you're back, kids. Where's ol' Ben? Is he coming in another car?"

"He's dead," Luke croaked. His eyes were still red and raw from crying. "Vader killed him! He's gone because Vader killed him, just like he probably killed Papa Bail!"

Artie's round coffee-colored face turned deadly serious. "We'll get 'em back, kiddo. I think I have an inklin' of who Vader is and why he'd have it in for Ben, but we need to get outta here first. You do not need to be dealin' with that jerk close-up."

Clarence shuddered. "I would prefer to avoid any encounters with that odious man at all, if I can help it. He's not even a man. He's more like a machine in a well-tailored suit!"

"I've seen enough of that jerk. Bad enough I'm havin' problems with Yasmin." Harry dashed for the Silver Falcon. "Cass," he called over his shoulder, "if you want to play rebel with the Empire, that's on you. I'll leave that to the professionals." He turned to Luke, who was hauling his suitcase over to smaller former military plane. "You all right, kid? I know you were broken up about Kenobi. He was a little crazy, but a good guy."

"Yeah." Luke's smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "I'm fine."

Harry didn't believe a word the kid said. At least he'd have Artie with him. He patted the kid on his shoulder. "Be careful."

"You too." His eyes never left Luke as the young reporter staggered to the back of the hangar. Harry finally just shook his head and went in the opposite direction towards the Silver Falcon.

"You know, you could be a major help to them, and to our expedition." Leia followed him. "You're brave, a great fighter, and a natural leader."

Harry was already climbing into the Falcon's cab. "No time to discuss this as a committee."

Leia's annoyed "I am NOT a committee!" was loud enough to be heard over the whine of engines.

Charel handed off Artie's suitcase. "Are you sure about this, Arthur?" Clarence's horse-like face hung low and dejected. "After all, there's only one of Mr. Luke, and several people here. I could use your aid. If gangsters are involved..."

"Goldie, I know you're worried." Artie took his suitcase and shivered as a chilly wind, more reminiscent of late fall than late summer, twisted and turned across the tarmac. "But we promised Mrs. Organa that we'd look after the kids. If something happened to them, she'd never forgive us." He sighed. "And neither would their parents or poor Ben, God rest his soul."

"Take good care of Mr. Luke, then," Clarence insisted. "And," he added, softer, "do take care of yourself."

Artie gave him his round grin. "I will, Goldie. He's as safe as a bug in a rug with me." Clarence's golden brown eyes under the round spectacles followed Artie to the other side of the hangar, at least until Charel let out of growl and yanked him in the plane.

"So kid," Artie started as he finally caught up with Luke, "where are we off to, anyway?"

"San Francisco." Luke waved at the slender man leaning into the heavily rebuilt Sopwith Camel. "Hey there! You Wally Antilles?"

"Aye, lad." The pilot popped his head out of the engine, revealing a slight fellow with sleek black hair under a heavy pilot's cap and goggles. He sported a leather jacket with sheepskin lining and brass buttons. The words "Rogue Squadron" and a firebird insignia were embroidered in orange and red on the back. "Are ye Luke Skylark? Ol' Man Guerrara told me I'm supposed to get you across the sea to visit a friend. Besides," he added, "he wants me to pick up supplies and talk to some of the American members of our group in California. He'd go himself, but he don't move around so well anymore. Got hit with mustard gas and picked up breathin' problems durin' the Battle of Verdun."

"I'm Luke. This is my friend Artie." They both somehow managed to snuggle into the front cab as Luke pulled the Imperial-produced wool jacket around him. "Yes, we're the ones going to San Francisco. I have to talk to a friend of my mentor...late mentor who can help us. Yoda Chiang."

The pilot raised his thick black eyebrows. "I thought that old bugger died years ago?" He shook both men's hands. "I'm Wally Antilles, by the way, but you can call me Wedge." He finally climbed into the back cab. "You boys strap yourselves and your luggage in. We're going to be taking off in a few minutes...whoa!"

Gunshots rattled the rusted tin hangar as heavy black cars roared onto the field. "You go! Get out of here!" Jeanne waved up to them. Her gun was twice her size and already aimed at two soldiers. Cassian took out three more. Bodhi was on the radio, calling for more help from local rebel units.

"You're both have ground clearance!" Kay waved two red-and-white striped flags. Five of Vader's men had already started shooting at the group. They weren't expecting to be smashed over the head by a long candy cane-striped flag, or kicked in sensitive places by flying feet clad in the robes of a monk. He knocked down six men before any of them realized what the blur was. Baze took out four more who came at him with knives.

Vader had just emerged from the unharmed Dusenberg as every dropped to the ground. Two plains, a battered Great War British fighter and a silvery cargo plane that was barely more than a pile of scrap metal, lurched down the runway. Feretta followed him, still dripping potato peelings and moldy cheese rinds and reeking of garbage, his needle-sharp Italian rifle cradled lovingly in his hands.

"Boss, duck!" Fettara pushed him down just in time to see the two planes lift off into the blue Coruscant sky. One turned south, towards France and the Mediterranean. The other did a u-turn west, just barely missing several radio antennas on the roofs of a few houses.

"Sir," gulped one fat man with a blond mustache whose black wool suit barely fit him, "I felt surprise was wiser..."

"You're as clumsy as you are stupid, Ozzel." A dark red light shot out, lifting Ozzel into the air. Choking sounds escaped from his blue lips as it squeezed the air out of him. "Thanks to you, they've vanished, we've lost the Sword of Light, and half the Coruscant Armory is burning to the ground."

The other officers just watched in horror as the Vader squeezed harder. The moment Ozzel dropped limply to the ground, he turned to the slender, older man next to him. "Send every available fighter at the Tenebrous Military Air Yard after those ships. I want them alive, do you hear?" Vader ripped the red and blue enamel insignia from Ozzel's uniform and turned to the nervous officer. "You are in command now, Admiral Piett."

Piett's already-pale face turned nearly white with nervous fear. "Yes, sir." He turned to his junior officer in charge. "Alert all commands. Deploy the fleet." A shaky finger pointed downwards at the remains of Ozzel. "And I need two of you to take him to the morgue downtown. The rest of you, return to the Armory and help the fire fighters sift through the rubble for survivors."

Even as Piett returned to the smaller Maybach, Vader helped a wizened figure out of the Dusenberg. His heavy, fur-trimmed cape hung over his shrunken figure like a shroud. Bony fingers clutched a long black cane topped with a handle of polished gold. Every man parted as Vader fell in besides him. "My men have everything well in order, Your Highness."

Emperor Stefan Palpatine's icy blue eyes missed nothing, including Chirrut knocking down two officers and Jeanne hitting another over the head with a chair. "I see." His fingers rubbed the handle of the cane almost nonchalantly. "This matters little. We must get the Sword back. Our copies of the plans for the gun were burned with the rest of that side of the Armory." The icy eyes slid questioningly to Vader. "You told me on the ride here that the Force had chosen its successors for the Swords."

"Kenobi's young apprentice was the one who handled the gun. It worked on his command." Vader's booming voice was hesitant. "The young man is my son. His sister was with him. They both have the last name Skylark, were both raised by relatives in the same Arizona town Andrew Skylark once grew up in."

Palpatine waved him off. "They must be destroyed."

"If their magic could be corrupted," Vader interjected, "if they could be turned, they could be powerful allies. They and the dark-haired pilot with them showed abilities with the Force I'm not even certain they realize they possess."

"Yessss," Palpatine hissed thoughtfully. "Yes. Could it be done?"

"They will join us, or die." He bowed low before Palpatine, nearly ending up on one knee. "You are my master in all things. When they're turned, they'll bring us the Swords, and with them, we will rule the world."

Palpatine only nodded, cackling. "As it should be, apprentice."

The Falcon's engine started smoking less than an hour after their departure from Coruscant. Harry landed in a sheltered valley in the Austrian Alps that was mostly surrounded by trees and wildflowers. Leia would have admired the amazing view of green-peaked mountains and rolling green forests if she hadn't been ready to throw Harry out of the cockpit.

"I'm gonna shut down everything but the emergency power system." Harry was already reaching into the back area for a box of tools. "Charel, check on the wiring in the cockpit. We're going to need that radar we bought in Germany working if we're going to avoid the Empire's flyboys."

"Captain Solomon, is there anything I can do to help?" Clarence had already stripped off his mustard-yellow jacket and rolled up his shirtsleeves. "I'm not good with my hands, but I'm an excellent translator, and a highly organized secretary."

"Here." Harry tossed him a thick book. It's weight nearly knocked Clarence out of the Falcon. "See if you can translate the instructions for that get-up. I don't speak German, and Charel's is fragmented at best."

"I speak...German...fluently!" Clarence buckled under the weight of the heavy booklet. "Charel...wait...for me!" He stumbled into the cockpit as Harry stuffed the tool box under his arm and jumped out.

The hood of the engine was already open when Harry got out. A pair of short but shapely legs in billowing khaki trousers and sensible brown shoes stuck out of one side. He was surprised at the long string of creative curses that emerged from the other end. Good little college girls usually didn't know that kind of language, or at least, the few that he'd ever known didn't. Then again, most normal college girls wouldn't have gone into a Fascist country that had forbidden outside visitors to retrieve a priceless artifact, either.

She was having problems moving an especially stubborn valve. A shiver went up his spine as he leaned over her to help, their bodies briefly touching. It was like electricity coursing through his skin. The moment didn't last long. Leia glared at him and pushed him away.

"Hey Princess," he grumbled, "I'm only trying to help!"

Leia tried to ignore what had just passed between them, opting to focus on the stubborn valve. "Would you please not call me that? My godmother had a dog named Princess. I am not a dog."

"Ok, Leia." Harry shrugged. "You could be a little nicer, you know. I am the driver here. Sometimes, you think I'm all right."

The valve finally clicked into place. She turned to him as she pulled out from under the hood, sucking her sore fingers. "Occasionally, maybe. When you aren't acting like a scoundrel."

"Scoundrel." Harry took her hands in his and rubbed them, his lazy smirk lighting up his face. "I like the sound of that."

Leia's dark eyes flicked down to their entwined fingers. "Stop that."

Harry was too busy gazing into those dark orbs to notice the nervousness in her voice. "Stop what?"

"Stop that. My hands are dirty."

"My hands are dirty, too." Harry leaned closer to her. "What are you afraid of?"

She wasn't resisting. "Afraid? I'm not afraid of anything!"

"You're trembling." Harry's strong hands were now on her shoulders.

A breeze ruffled that flyaway lock of hair over Harry's forehead. Leia had to resist the urge to gently run her fingers through it. "I'm not trembling."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm no..." They kissed before Leia could finish protesting. It was...wonderful. Like nothing Leia had every felt before. The electricity charged through her veins, made her feel reckless. She pulled closer to him, kissing even harder.

"Sir! Captain!" Clarence just had to pick that moment to poke his head out of the cockpit. "Charel and I have isolated the reverse power coupling! The radar is working beautifully!"

The look on Harry's face would have killed Clarence instantly if it had been a bolt of lightning. "Thank you, professor," he snapped. "Thank you very much."

Clarence was immune to sarcasm. "Oh, you're perfectly welcome."

Harry turned around to see if Leia was up to another kiss...but when he reached for her, she was gone. She had already ducked into the main cabin. He sighed and headed for the cockpit. They'd talk about this later, after he found a safe place to get some better repairs on his baby.

It took a few hours, but they finally got back into the air. Leia sat in the front cockpit with Harry and Charel as they flew over Vienna. Clarence was napping in the seats behind them. "We need to find the second sword." She looked up from her uncle's notes as Charel consulted a slightly tattered map. "Papa Bail and Dr. Mothma have said they think the Sword of Wisdom may have been stolen from the temple by thieves and sold on the black market. Papa Bail and his people have the map to the temple, but only the Sword of Light was there. The Sword of Strength may be buried elsewhere, but the Sword of Wisdom wasn't where it should be."

Charel growled, running his cigar-sized fingers along the southern edge of France. "Yeah, that's an idea, buddy." Harry leaned around his friend's considerable bulk. "Laurence."

"Laurence?" Leia peered around his other side. "Is that a town?"

"It's not a town. It's a man. Laurence Carlyle." Harry gave her his little smirk. "Card player, gambler, scoundrel. You'd like him."

Charel waved his hand Leia's notes, then at the map. "He's right." Harry leaned back thoughtfully in his chair. "If anyone knows where the sword is, it's Larry. He knows the international black market inside and out. He's dealt with it a lot over the years. Probably how he was able to fund that crazy wardrobe of his. If he hasn't sold it himself, he'll know someone who might have an idea of who did."

"Right." She rolled her eyes, reading over the map as Charel moved his hand. "Bespin, in the South of France? Is that where he is?"

"Yeah. Some resort town on the water near Nice. Larry conned somebody-or-other out of this big old hotel and nightclub, Hotel Ville Du Neige. He used to be a smuggler, before he got into the hotel racket. We go back a long way, Larry and me."

Charel nudged him and waved his big hand at the sides of the plane, his booming bass nearly shaking the controls. "That job with Beckett and Clara was a long time ago. I'm sure he's forgotten about that." The towering Russian navigator made a face, slapping a paw at the controls. "Ok, so the Falcon's not as pretty as she used to be. We'll stop somewhere in France and get her cleaned up before we go down there."

Leia looked up from her notes. "Doesn't sound like this man is willing to talk to you. Can you trust him?"

"No." Harry checked his radar as they dipped in low over the rolling hills just beyond Vienna. "But he has no love for Coruscant politics, I can tell you that." He turned to his navigator. "See if you can get Larry on the radio, or at least the nearest airport to Bespin, and clear us for landing."

Charel nodded and managed to push his way out of the cracked leather seat before he head to the back. Leia leaned around Harry's chair. "You do have your moments," she said after giving him a kiss on his cheek. "Not many of them, but you do have them."

Harry was actually kind of glad Leia went in the back with her notes after that. She couldn't see him turn a bright shade of scarlet. Clarence continued to snore behind him as they soared over the tree-tops and the country roads.

If Harry had looked down at that moment, he would have seen a familiar green and red truck just off the highway, almost hidden by a grove of old pine trees. A tall man in a pin-striped suit and wide-brimmed green hat leaned over the radio in the grimy and potato peel-covered vehicle.

"They're flying just outside of Vienna now, Mr. Vader." Roberto Fettara's keen dark eyes remained focused on the silvery shape in the distance as it turned to the south. "I think I have an idea where they're going. Solomon has an old buddy in the South of France, Larry Carlyle. I've had a few run-ins with him myself over the years. Considering how often that rig of his breaks down, you might be able to get there before he does..."

Artie raised a thick eyebrow. "Are you sure this is it?" The Victorian house in San Francisco, just outside of Chinatown, was hardly the type of place Luke thought a legendary professor and archaeologist would call home. Pale pink paint was weathered and faded; the ornate gingerbread trim on the roof was slightly chipped. Threadbare gingham curtains allowed sunlight through spotless windows. If he squinted, he could see a tiny garden in a plot of land behind a weathered wood fence.

"This is the address Ben gave me." Luke had been knocking on the door for at least five minutes. The neighbors on either side of him were starting to stare. "Yoda? Dr. Chiang? Hello? My name is Luke Skylark! Ben Kenobi sent me! Are you there?"

Artie peered through the windows. "Maybe he went to the market, kid."

Luke sighed. "You're probably right. I guess I should have called him, but Ben never said if he had a telephone or not."

"May I help you?" Luke and Artie nearly jumped a mile. " Lost, you look. Directions, you need." Luke looked all around him, but he didn't see anything...until he saw Artie lean over and hug something short.

"Yoda!" The pugnacious chauffeur grinned, ruffling the filmy strands of white hair. "You old cuss! Why didn't you wait for us?"

"Didn't know when you were coming." Artie's thick arms were wrapped tightly around a tiny man in an old gray suit. His wizened face had a slightly greenish cast, his long ears and pursed lips giving him the look of a short elf from Tolkien, or a tiny old troll. His voice was an odd gruff sing-song. "Just bought things for lunch. Hope you enjoy Hot and Sour Soup and milk bread buns."

Artie rubbed his stomach. "Old man, I'm so hungry, I could eat a plate, never mind what's on it."

Luke couldn't have been more surprised. "You're Yoda? Dr. Chiang? Ben said you knew everything about Alderaanian culture and the Jedi. You don't...look...like one of the Jedi."

"I was a Jedi, yes, a long time ago." The little man opened up the front screen door. "Not anymore. Not after Vader destroyed them."

"Tell me more." Luke whipped out his notepad as he followed Yoda in. "From what Ben was talking about, there's a story here. What did Vader do? Why are there no more Jedi?"

"Destroy them, he did. Murdered them one by one, in ways that looked like accident." Yoda made his way through the cluttered hallway to a small kitchen, with a heavy iron stove and boxy white drawers under the counter. The old man pulled out wicked-sharp knives in a variety of shapes and sizes and started slicing onions.

Luke admired his collections. He'd never seen so many artifacts in one place outside of museums and the Coruscant Armory. "Did you ever do any digging?" Most of the items were small – pottery, small knives or spears, small statues, fragments of dishes and cups. There was even a full suit of Alderaanian Jedi armor, complete with dusty feathers made to resemble the head of the mythical Phoenix. "You have so much here! Leia would go crazy! How come none of this is in a museum?"

"Personal collection, it is," Yoda sing-songed from the kitchen. "All artifacts go to University of California when I die. Worked there for many years, I did, between digs. Retired twenty years ago, but friends there, I have."

Artie waved Luke over to a series of heavy dark wooden frames sitting on a table covered in a bright fringed paisley scarf. "Kid, you gotta see this. Ol' Doc Chiang knew everybody back in the day." He held up a slightly faded sepia-toned photo of a quartet at the foot of a massive stone wall. "That's your mom right there." His fat finger brushed the face of a lovely young woman in a loose white dress with a high waist and a skirt to her ankles. "Padme was a real beauty, inside and out. She was smart. She went to college. Not many ladies did in those days. But she had class, and she had style." Her flower-bedecked straw hat was set at a jaunty angle, as if to defy the very ruggedness of its surroundings.

Luke ran his finger over the glass, as if he could bring her back just with his touch. "I wish I'd known them, Artie." He looked over his shoulder at the squat Negro man. "What were they like? You worked for them."

"They were good folks, your parents." Artie looked everywhere but at Luke. "Andy had a temper. He'd start an argument with anyone who would listen, but there was no one who was as loyal as him. You were his friend, you were his friend for life."

Artie pointed to a figure with his arm draped around Padme. "That was him." The young man's eyes never left the gangling, light-haired figure. He was a very handsome man, with wavy gold hair and a scar across his right eye. He must have made all the girls crazy in his day. "And there's ol' Kenobi. He was a real square in those days, kid. Used to have an ulcer every other week over Andy's antics in the jungle." Ben, while also handsome, was a study in contrasts. His perfectly barbered hair and beard and tight tweed suit was about as far from Andrew's casual khaki shirt, trousers, and thick leather work boots as one could get.

Luke whipped out his notebook again. "I want to avenge all of them. Father, Mother, Ben. I want to bring down Vader and Dark Star Industries, and the Empire, too." He jotted down something in his notebook. "Did Vader work with Father? Did they know each other at UCLA?"

Artie sighed. "I think somethin' happened durin' the war, kiddo. When Andy came home from Europe, he wasn't the same. He was totally obsessed with finding Alderaan and those swords for the Empire. He argued more with everyone – Padme, Ben, Bail, Ahsoka Tano, Owen. He spent most of his time either on his dig or his offices in LA. He got really paranoid and secretive." His squeaky voice went down slightly. "Look, kid, there's something I really have to tell you..."

"Lunch time, it is!" Yoda came out with a lacquered tray. "Hot and sour soup for you, with milk buns and salad. Vegetables are good for you. Good for Jedi's muscles and coordination."

"Smells good." Luke sipped the spicy-hot broth and winced, adding salt to soften it a bit. "How long before we can talk? I need to find out everything you know about Vader and Palpatine and the Jedi."

"Not long." Yoda took sips that were so tiny, they barely qualified as eating. "Patience. Soon, you will know."

"How soon?" Luke finally threw down his spoon. "I don't know what I'm doing here. I should be tracking down Vader and figuring out what he's planning on doing with those swords. We're wasting our time!"

"Kid has a point." Artie was nearly drinking his soup. "By the way, this stuff is really good. You ever thought of opening a restaurant?"

"I can't help him. No one can." Yoda shook his head into the air. "The boy has no patience. His sister is even worse."

"Was I any different when Quenton taught me?" Luke nearly fell out of his chair. That was Ben's voice! He looked desperately around the dim living room, hoping for a glimpse of him. "I learned patience. So will they and Solomon."

"They're too old," Yoda grumbled. "Too old to be trained in the ways of Jedi." He poked his gnarled walking stick at Luke. "This one and his sister, a long time have I watched. She fights. He dreams. She looks to the past. He looks to the future. Never their minds on where they are! What they're doing!" The young reporter rubbed his chest in annoyance where he was poked. "You two are reckless! Just like your father!"

"I won't fail you." Luke's intense gaze held every intention of keeping that promise. "We're not afraid."

"Good." Yoda smirked. "You will be. You will be."

The Falcon went down twice with a smoking engine in the next two days. On one hand, she was frustrated that they weren't getting where they were going faster. Leia suggested to Harry after they went down the second time near Grenoble that they abandon the plane and take a train to Bespin..

"She'll be fine." Harry waved away the smoke and handed her a wrench. "Just needs a few tweaks, that's all."

It wasn't all bad. They'd spent a lot more time together. Harry would put his arm around her and draw her close while they worked together on the engine, and she almost didn't mind. Grease and engine oil and the dry dust of hangar floors never smelled so good. He was rather sweet, when his ego wasn't taking up whole planets. He and Charel were even teaching her how to fly a plane.

She spent her evenings with Clarence aboard the ship, trying to figure out from her uncle's notes and articles where the Sword of Wisdom was taken after it was stolen. At one point, she called Dr. Mothma from the house of the mayor of the small town outside of Grenoble they were staying in. He was the proud owner of the only telephone in town.

"We've been doing some research here as well." Papers shuffled on Dr. Mothma's end. She cleared her throat before continuing. "Dr. Organa said in his reports that he believed the Sword of Wisdom had been looted in antiquity, as it was not with the other sword when it was found. The Sword of Strength was also missing, but may be in another location on the grounds."

"That's what I got from his maps here. He left a pretty detailed trail." Leia closed her eyes. "The Sword of Wisdom was on the black market. I don't know by whom. Harry has a friend whom he says is familiar with the antiquities market and may be able to help us out." She tapped her fingers on the table. "Dr. Mothma, could you do some research on a Laurence or Larry Carlyle? Something about all this doesn't smell right. I think there's a reason he extended that invitation, and it may or may not have to do with the Sword of Wisdom."

"All right. I'll see if anyone here in LA recognizes that name. I'm friendly with the head of the western branch of the FBI. He may have heard a few things." Dr. Mothma's voice dropped a little. "Leia, please be careful. We heard about the fire at the Coruscant Armory and about Ben Kenobi's death. Your brother apparently called in the story. It was all over the Star today. There may be more than a couple of Imperials who want to keep you from finding that sword."

"I'll be all right, Dr. Mothma. I can take care of myself," Leia insisted with more confidence than she felt. "Tell Aunt Breha that Luke and I are fine, and we'll be home as soon as we have the swords."

"I will." Dr. Mothma's voice didn't sound convinced. "I'll see you when you get home. Good luck!"

"Thanks!" Leia just dropped the phone on the receiver when Harry sauntered over, wiping his hands on a rag.

"Ready to go, sweetheart?" He stuck the rag in his pocket. "The engine's in as good of shape as it's likely to get. I'll see if I can have it looked at when we get to Bespin."

"I'm ready." Leia stuffed her papers under one arm. "Shall we? I need to finish studying Papa Bail's notes, and you did promise me another flying lesson."

"Sure, sweetheart." He kissed her on the forehead. She tried not to shiver with pleasure. "Between the two of us and Char, we'll be in Bespin in no time."

She wanted to tell him her feelings then, that there was something that just felt wrong about all this...but then he kissed her on the lips, his arms winding around her shoulders. Her legs turned to jelly, and her mind went blank. "Um, yeah. Let's get going."

It was 24 hours later when they finally touched down on the air field a few miles outside of Bespin. It took them two hours just to get clearance to land. "I thought you knew this person," Leia complained as he haggled with the air traffic control managers.

"That was a long time ago." Harry frowned at Charel's long bark. "I'm sure he's forgotten all about what I did to the Falcon with Clara and Beckett."

Charel growled again in his language, his thick brown mustache rustling. "What happened in the Kessel Pass wasn't my fault! If it wasn't for me, we never would have gotten out of there!" Harry grinned and leaned back as the control tower operator gave them the go to land. "Thank you." He turned his smirk to a concerned Leia. "Don't worry, sweetheart. We go way back, Larry and me."

Leia frowned. "Who's worried?"

There was a welcoming committee at the small air field just outside of Bespin, one of the many small towns catering to the rich and bored between Cannes and Nice. A handsome man with skin the color of rich coffee sported a pale blue and yellow suit and straw trilby. His midnight curls were slicked back with some shiny substance. Men in blue uniforms with gold braiding surrounded him. A taller, balding man in a simpler blue suit and sunglasses stood nonchalantly to his right.

"You double-crosser!" The man glared at Harry as he and his crew came down from the Falcon. "You have a lot of guts showing up here, after everything you've pulled.

Harry put up his arms, his big hazel eyes widening. Leia would have snickered at his attempt at innocence if the situation wasn't so intense. She was sure he hadn't been innocent since he was in short pants. Possibly not even then.

After a few minutes, the other man in the dashing suit finally broke into a wide smile. "You old pirate! How are you doing? What brings you to my neck of the woods, anyway?"

"Repairs, and a few questions." Harry jutted a thumb at the Falcon. "She's been acting out. Charel swears the spirit of your ex-girlfriend is still in the engine somewhere and is causing trouble."

His well-dressed friend made a face. "Have you been damaging my ship again?"

"Your ship?" Harry glared at him. "Remember, you lost her to me in that poker game in Havana fair and square, pal."

"Maybe." The moment Laurence saw Leia, he pushed past Harry and made a beeline for her hand, kissing it gallantly. "Well hello, what do we have here? Welcome to Bespin, fair maiden. My name is Laurence Carlyle, the owner of the Ville Du Nuege Resort and Casino on the Cote D' Azur. And who might you be?"

Leia was almost enjoying the look of pure jealousy on Harry's face. "Leia Skylark, Mr. Carlyle. I have a few questions I need to ask you about the international antiquities black market. There's a certain piece I'm trying to locate, and Captain Solomon has spoken highly of your knowledge on the subject."

Laurence's smile was blinding enough for a Pepsodent ad. "You came to the right place, Miss Skylark. Why don't we all go back to the Ville Du Nuege and discuss this over iced coffee? It'll be my treat."

He was about to take her arm, but Harry moved in quickly and blocked him. "All right," he chucked, though his smile was slightly strained. "You old smoothie."

Laurence opted to join Charel instead. Leia was surprised to hear him speak fluent Russian to the hulking navigator. "Some of my workers are Russian," he explained when Leia asked him about it. "They were driven out of the country after the Revolution. I've been learning the language from them."

"How is the hotel business coming for you anyway, buddy?" Harry put an arm around Laurence. "You look good. Sea air must be working for you."

"I always did like living by the sea. It's good for my complexion." Laurence shook his head. "Wish the hotel business was. The Depression's been rough on the hospitality business, even here. This place is pretty small, and we're trying to compete with the larger palaces up in Cannes and Nice. And I've had supply problems of every kind, what with the Nazis and the Empire in the area, I've had labor difficulties..." Laurence looked up as Harry laughed. "What's so funny?"

"Listen to you! You're going on like a real businessman there, or a leader, or something." Harry slung an arm around him. "Who would have thought that when we were tooling around in Nevada with Clara and Beckett and Leslie, huh?"

"Yeah." Laurence shrugged. "I'm responsible these days. It's the price you pay for being successful."

Leia was getting more entertainment out of watching these two than she had out of the last Clark Gable movie she'd seen with Luke. She was too busy watching them to pay attention to Clarence, who had wandered off into the hangar, muttering about having seen someone moving around back there. She would swear later that she never heard Clarence's yell, or the gunshots, before they entered Laurence's Rolls Royce and a second Mercedes.

Luke had never learned so much in his life. He was currently interviewing Yoda at Golden Gate Park, in a quiet section of the Japanese Tea Garden. Yoda had given him information for at least five or six articles. No wonder Leia loved learning about culture. Not only did he know about Alderaan and the Force, but he'd been involved in the Great War and had worked with movie studios in the early 20's, advising the likes of DW Griffith on the historical accuracy of their period films.

"Listen to me, they often did not." Yoda sniffed. "Movies like 'Tarzan the Mighty' would say they want to be accurate, but ignore me when it did not suit their silly stories."

Luke was scribbling like mad. "How long have you been a Jedi?"

"Shh!" Yoda waved his little hands. "Powers are secret. All but gone, the Jedi are." He looked around. The park was quiet. Even Artie had gone to get drinks. "Killed off one by one, they were, made to look like accidents. Vader wanted no one to stop him from taking swords and their powers for himself and Chancellor Palpatine."

"How long has he worked for Palpatine?" Luke licked the tip of his pencil. "When did he steal Father's work? I know he did. We saw some of his missing items at the Coruscant Armory. How long has the Empire been covering up the deaths and his thefts?"

The little man put up a clawed hand. "So many questions, young one! Perhaps," he added, "it's time you thought on them."

Luke followed him as he got up from the bench and made his way to a soft patch of grass. To his surprise, Yoda was easily able to turn over and stand on one gnarled hand. "Meditate, young one. Good for us, it will be. Find out what Vader has planned next, we will."

"Hi, boys." Artie came over, carrying three paper cups. "Here's your orders from the concession stand. I have coffee for the kid and me, and green tea for Yoda. At least, I think it's green tea. It looks brownish to me." He raised a thick eyebrow. "What is he doing, and how is he doing it?"

"The Force, I think." Artie's eyebrows went up even further as Luke handed him his notebook and got on his own hands, with a little more difficulty than Yoda. A soft green light surrounded both men. "All right, Professor, I'm on my hands. Now what?"

"Focus, you must," Yoda croaked. "Images will flow into your mind, but only when you focus on the moment."

Luke shut his eyes hard and tried to focus on anything but putting his weight on his hands and not falling. "I see..." He murmured... "I see a city by the water. Very clear, turquoise water, with pebbly beaches and palm trees and big, fancy hotels."

Yoda barely nodded. "Friends you have there. Your sister is there."

"They're in pain!" Luke's eyes flew open, his green light waving. "Vader's there! He...Harry and Leia...he's hurting Harry...he's going to...no!" With that last "no," the young man toppled to the ground, taking Yoda with him.

"Hey!" Artie just barely dodged his legs. "Careful, kiddo! Are you ok?" He put the drinks on a bench and went to Luke's side. "What happened there? What was all that about Harry and Leia?"

"Yoda, they were in pain!" Luke's bright blue eyes were haunted. "Vader hurt them! Took Harry's powers! There were other people...a woman, a man in green...I've seen him before...a Negro in a fancy suit..."

Artie shook his shoulder. "Did you see Clarence?"

"No. I saw Charel...he carried something." Luke chewed his lip. "He screamed something in Russian. I didn't understand it. Leia's the one who's interested in foreign languages." His sweet face was as white as the sugar lumps Artie had put aside for their drinks. "I have to leave. Now. We need to find a plane that will take us to them as soon as possible."

"It is the future you see." Yoda shook his head. "If you leave now, help them you could, but...you may destroy all that they have fought for and suffered."

"The hell he will, old man." Artie glared at him. "You can back out if you want, but I'm with the kid. I'm not about to let An...Vader hurt anyone else. He's done enough damage over the years already." Luke wanted to ask Artie what he was going to call Vader originally, but finally decided to drop it. The short black man was upset enough over his missing friend as it was.

"Then go with you, I will." Yoda leaned on his stick. "Help, I can. Help with your sister's work. Decipher ancient Alderaanian language, I can. Like a second language, it is. Know of the culture, I do." He stood a little straighter. "Fight, I can. If you will not listen, I will keep you from trouble."

Artie chuckled. "The son of Andrew Skylark? I don't know if that's possible, old man."

"We'll leave as soon as we can figure out where Leia is. Wedge may still be around. I could go to the hangar and talk to him, or try to call Dr. Mothma at UCLA. She may have heard from her." Luke snatched his coffee so hard, some of the hot liquid nearly sloshed back out. "Come on. We have to save my sister and my best friend from a monster."

Artie stopped Yoda on his way down the path. "How much does the kid know?"

"About his father? Nothing, he knows." The old man looked up at Artie with his dark almond-shaped squint. "Thank you for keeping secret, friend. Hard enough it will be when he does find out...for find out, he will."

"I would have told them years ago, but Ben and Bail wouldn't let me. They were afraid Andy would come after them." Artie made a face. "Clarence doesn't know. At least, I don't think he does. He doesn't remember where his head is most of the time."

"Just as well, it is. Fewer who know, the better." Yoda nodded at Luke, who was already storming ahead. "Prepared, the young Skylarks must be. Work with both of them, I will."

Artie frowned. "I hope you know what you're doin'. That kid could be the last hope the Jedi have."

"No," Yoda said softly. "There's another."

Leia looked out the window of the penthouse suite she and Harry were sharing in Ville Du Nuage as the sun went down over the glittering Mediterranean. Laurence's hotel was one of the biggest in Bespin, endless acres of rooms in up-to-date splendor. Laurence claimed to have won it from its previous owner in a card game and had updated it with all the modern amenities. Their hotel room was like something out of a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movie, all rounded curves, shiny chrome, and rattan. Ceiling fans turned lazily around, barely producing enough wind to dispel the lingering heat. Colorful porcelain tiles in the living room created a mural of local history, from fishing villages to glamorous promenades.

Papa Bail's notebooks were scattered across the the curvy wooden desk. She'd been trying to make sense of his writing for over a week now. She and Harry spent the week talking to Laurence about the Sword of Wisdom. He'd given her a few leads on gangsters and shady black marketeers he was familiar with, but he was evasive on exactly whom they might be. He kept telling her he needed to get in touch with this person and that contact.

To be fair, he'd been a wonderful host. They'd done their work at the beach, leaning over a small table between two blankets. He'd paid for clothes for her, Harry, and Charel, swimsuits and evening clothes and lightweight trousers and shirts for daytime. She and Harry had walked the boardwalk together, had made love under shady palm trees by a quiet private bay. They'd strolled through the town, through museums, though the casino.

She'd had fun, but it wasn't why they were here. Not only was Laurence stalling on getting a hold of his contacts, but Clarence was missing. He claimed he'd called the local police to find him, but they'd turned up no clues.

"Hey, Princess." Leia was still amazed Laurence had somehow talked Harry into wearing a real tux. The white suit with the black satin vest and scarlet-red carnation in the lapel made him look impossibly dashing. He'd even managed to slick back his mop of hair. "You look amazing."

"Thank you." Leia let him kiss her on the forehead, but she didn't respond. His fingers ran down her diaphanous red silk gown with the ruffled net sleeves and rubbed around her bare back. "Something's wrong here. I appreciate all the help Laurence has given us, but I think he's stalling. No one or seen or knows anything about Clarence. He's been gone for a week! That's too long to have gotten lost. He doesn't know the area..."

"Relax, sweetheart." He settled down on the creamy white cotton couch that almost matched his tux. "Laurence said his men turned up a few good leads. They'll find him."

Leia settled down next to him. "I don't trust Laurence."

"I don't trust him, either." Harry gave her that little smirk. "But he's still my friend. As soon as the Falcon's finished, we'll be gone, and you'll be back in LA."

She leaned back against the couch, pouring a glass of red wine for both of them. "Then you're as good as gone, aren't you?"

"Maybe. Maybe not." Harry stood abruptly, going to his dresser in the bedroom. "I have a little gift for you. Something I picked up when we were in town and you were looking at the books on ancient history at the book seller's." He came out with a pink velvet box, his grin more pleased than smarmy for once. "Open it!"

"Oh Harry!" A golden filigree heart with a red crystal center was nestled snugly amid velvet and silk inside. She wrapped her fingers around the links of the delicate chain. "It's beautiful! It must have cost you a fortune."

"About half the money Kenobi gave me for this trip, but it was worth it." His fingers fumbled to open the catch. "Turn around. I want to see how it looks on you."

It took a few minutes, but crystal was finally dangling down her neck, resting perfectly over the top of her dress. "It's perfect." She leaned over him to give him another kiss. "Maybe you're not such an idiot after all..."

Something kicked at the door just as their lips met. "Damn." Harry made a face. "Always when I'm busy!" He went to open the door and somehow wasn't surprised to see Charel there. "Look buddy, I'm a little busy here. Could you come back..." His eyes widened at the remains of the man in his arms. "Holy shit. What's that?'

Charel let out a growl and dropped the lean, battered figure onto the couch. Leia's mouth dropped open. "Clarence! At least, I think it's him." His face was a bloody mess, and the rest of him was worse. Half of his glasses hung off his long nose. "Where did you find him?"

Harry raised an eyebrow at his co-pilot's stream of deep Russian. "Found him in a junk yard? You had to fight three garbage men for him?" He chuckled. "It's not nice to call the residents of this country pigs, even if those guys did look like them."

"What a mess." Leia went to the kitchen and came back with a wet towel and a bag of ice. She pressed the bag against his purple eye and used the towel to wipe the blood off his face and chest. "Char, do you think you could keep an eye on him tonight?"

Harry shrugged. "Larry probably knows where to find a nurse for him."

Leia made a face at the name. "No thank you." Laurence walked in just as the words left her mouth. "Speak of the devil," she muttered to Harry.

"Sorry, am I interrupting anything?" Laurence looked every inch the casino-owning dandy in his blue tux with the gold trim and flamboyant blue and gold cape. He even wore spats and carried a gold-topped cane. Shiny black curls had been tucked under a top hat worthy of Fred Astaire.

Leia tugged her white lace wrap around her bare arms. "Not really." Something about the way his eyes roved over her gave her the heebie-jeebies. Then again, she could see Harry making a face behind her. It was almost kind of fun to make him jealous.

"You are so beautiful." Laurence took her arm. "You truly belong with us here, among the clouds and azure waters." His grin was a lot slicker than Harry's. "You're all invited to be my exclusive guests at the Paradise Club downstairs." His slick grin fell at the sight of what remained of poor Clarence. "Is he all right? Do you need someone to take him to a hospital?"

Charel growled, putting an arm around Clarence. "No," Harry echoed too quickly. "He's fine. Had a run-in with locals who didn't like his face. He'll sleep it off." He quickly took Leia's other arm. "Let's go get something to eat. I'm starved."

It was a magical night. Leia would never forget it as long as she lived. The stars seemed a little brighter over the fringe of high cliffs and resorts and villas along the Mediterranean. The water that lapped outside the Paradise Club was impossibly turquoise, like it should have been worn in an Aztec warrior's armor. The colorful tiles around the smoky room depicted fishermen, artists, and barefoot beauties dancing in scanty dresses under waving palm trees.

She'd spent nearly an hour talking to Laurence about his contacts. "I think I got a line on Yasmin Hutt, or at least some of her people." He sipped a rich amber cognac. "An old friend of mine mentioned that she purchased several Alderaanian artifacts from an illegal Imperial source, including a sword." He handed her a photo. "Is this what you're looking for?"

The young woman nodded, trying not to be too enthusiastic. "Yes! At least, it looks like the real sword." She pulled a photo out of her purse. "This is the real Sword of Wisdom the last time it was seen in a private collection in Mexico City in 1931. That man went broke in the Depression and had to sell off most of his assets, including the Sword. It was supposed to have gone to a Mexican museum, but it never made it there, and it hasn't been seen since."

Laurence studied the white crystal-studded silver hilt and flat obsidian blade with the razor-sharp edges. "It does match their description. I know Yasmin. I doubt she cares about Alderaan or the Force. She just likes expensive things."

Leia leaned back in her chair. "That may not be the only reason. I've heard of Yasmin Hutt. She was a showgirl, but she turned out to have more of a head for business than people suspected and easily expanded her husband Jack Hutt's criminal empire after he died. The Sword of Wisdom is said to give people powers over the mind, let you read them and control them. If the powers are real, and they fell into the hands of a ruthless bitch like her..."

Laurence raised an eyebrow. "I always figured Yasmin was just very good at judging character. She's made a lot of big deals lately. She practically owns most of the black market shipping lanes in North America and Asia. Her hubby started smuggling after bootlegging petered out, and I guess she figured, why mess with a good thing? Forced out her husband's partner and uncle Ziro around a decade ago."

"I would have laughed at the idea myself, until the last few weeks." Leia tucked the photo back in next to her wallet. "Let's just say I've seen a lot of strange things that's made me wonder how real the legends of the Jedi are."

"Hey, is this a private pow-wow, or can anyone join in?" Harry took a chair and pulled in as close to Leia as he could. "So, have you figured out where the Sword is yet?"

"We believe it's owned by a Yasmin Hutt, a gangster and businesswoman." Leia tapped her purse. "I'm going to have to set up a little chat with her."

"You'll have to do that without me. I, er, owe her some money." Harry actually turned a little red. "Among other things?"

Laurence smirked. "Are you two still knocking around together?"

Harry made a face as Leia glared at him. "No. I ended that a while ago. She's about as close to crazy as you can get without actually ending up in the nut house."

"I would have thought she was your type." Leia smirked. "After all, she was a showgirl. I heard she's quite a looker."

"Uh, yeah." Harry grabbed her hand as the orchestra launched into a slow, sultry tune. "Hey sweetheart, wanna dance?"

"Why not? I can't remember the last time I went out dancing." Leia let him lead her out onto the black and white parquet dance floor. "I haven't had the time. I've been so busy with my work..."

"Yeah, so have I." Harry chuckled as Leia raised an eyebrow. "What, you think I spend all my time having fun with dames like Yasmin? I'll let you know that I haven't been out dancing since 1927, the last time..." His face fell for a minute, but he shook it off. "Well, the last time I was together with my girl Clara. She's long gone. Ended up with some mob boss with a lot more green than I had."

"Oh. I'm sorry." Leia didn't know what else to say. She didn't really want to talk anymore, anyway. It was a beautiful night. Moonlight sparkled on the azure Mediterranean waters just outside the doors. It lent a soft glow to the throngs of people moving in time to the dreamy music. A female singer performed a French chanson that she didn't recognize, low and throaty and full of forbidden love.

"Harry?" Leia whispered, her voice throaty. "If I...if I got UCLA to pay you more, would you stay? I mean, I want you to stay. You've been a huge help to us, and so has Charel. I want you both to stay, and I think the others do, too. I could hire you on as bodyguards, or you could work the dig. It wouldn't pay much, but you'd get something, and you could learn more about the Force..."

"I'd love to, honey. I really would." Harry sighed. "But..." He had just kissed the top of her head and had looked up when he noticed a familiar figure in a loose green and red suit and wide-brimmed fedora. Long fingers cradled what definitely looked like a small-caliber Baretta pistol, the type that could fit easily into a pocket, yet still leave a smoking hole in a man's head in an instant. The man sat at the bar, nursing a drink and talking to the portly bartender. The fellow handed him a whiskey and soda and pointed in their direction.

"Shit." Harry grabbed her hand. "You know, it's way too crowded in here. Hot as hell, too. Those ceiling fans up there aren't really doing much more than moving air around." He leaned over her and murmured in her ear...but not the sweet nothings she'd hoped to hear. "We're being followed, sweetheart. Fettara is here. Now. At the bar. We'll tell Larry we're taking our leave and see if we can shake him."

Leia made a face. "If Larry isn't the one who called him in the first place. There's still something off with him."

"Come on." He pushed through the crowd as the song ended, making his way towards the palm-green front door with the portholes. "We'll have to shake this guy somehow." They stopped just long enough to get Leia's purse and wrap from the hat check girl and hurry into the main hotel.

"There he is!" Leia pointed at him just as Fettara followed them out the door, gun in hand. "Wait a minute. I know how to handle this." She tucked her white silk clutch purse under her arm and went directly to the man at the front desk. "Sir," she said brusquely, "that man," pointed at Fettara, who was trying not to be noticed in the shadow of a potted plant, "has been following my friend and me all night. He has a gun. I saw it."

"Yeah!" Harry nodded and waved his hand at the bounty hunter, who was trying harder to blend into the shadows. "He's got a gun on him, too! I'll bet he plans on killing all of us in his sleep."

"May I help you?" Laurence materialized as if out of nowhere at the desk. "I saw you leave and thought something was going on."

"Yeah, you might say that." Harry pointed a finger at where Fettara had been. He was now trying to discreetly make his way to the exit. "We're being followed."

"Well, hello there." A arm in a blue suit with a gold lined cape blocked Fettara's exit just before he made it to the revolving doors. "And what brings you to this place that's much too pleasant for you?" Laurence's blinding smile had turned a bit nasty as he took Fettara's elbow, ignoring his squawks. "I can handle him from here, folks. You can go back to the club now."

"You know what? I think we've had enough excitement for one night." Harry yawned big and stretched his arms out. Leia didn't even mind too much when one landed over her shoulder. "Why don't we go back to our hotel room and hit the hay, so to speak?"

"Sounds good to me." Leia effected her own yawn. "It's been a long night, and we need to talk to Charel."

Laurence nodded. "So you'll be in your room. Good. I'll know where to look for you when we have to talk, er, business tomorrow morning. Maybe even earlier. You have a good night."

"See you then!" Harry waved as they made for the elevators. "Yeah, I think we're going to have to leave tomorrow, no matter what kind of shape the Falcon's in. It's not that I don't trust Laurence, although I don't. I just don't like having Fettara around, even if they do toss him in the local jail for a day or two."

"I wish they'd leave him there for good, but I don't think we're that lucky." Leia tucked her cotton gloves in her purse as she followed him. "We'll pack when we get in and leave for the Falcon as soon as we eat and talk to Laurence one more time."

"Right now," Harry grinned, "let's go have some fun."

"Fun" ended up being champagne from a bucket left in their living room "with compliments of the house" on the balcony and noisier enjoyment in the bedroom afterwards. Leia was no virgin, but it had been a while since she'd had the time for a romantic relationship, let alone sex. Maybe it was the champagne, or the gorgeous star-strewn night, but she felt a little giddy. Her fingers were already getting off Harry's bow tie and vest, even before he fumbled with her zipper.

Harry was tender when he made love. His callused fingers ran over her lacy bra and slip, making her shiver. She kissed him, pulling him close, rubbing her fingers under his black black trousers. He explored every inch of her body, moaning softly as he nibbled around her chest.

"You're...not bad...at this." Leia bit gently on his ear.

"Did this for the first time...when I was thirteen." His fingers tugged at her bra hooks. "I'm a lot better at it now."

She had begun to unbutton his trousers when they heard the banging noise in the hall outside their suite. "Aw, damn it." Harry didn't even look away from her as he worked at the straps. "Stupid drunks. One of them must'a forgot their keys or somethin'."

"I don't know." Leia looked over her shoulder nervously, even as Harry kissed around her breast. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"It'll be ok, hon." Harry gave that lazy grin again. "Trust me."

That grin should have given her the hint that things were seriously wrong...but she opted to go in for another kiss. They'd no sooner reached each other than the door to their bedroom was flung open. "Well," sneered a too-familiar voice, "look what we have here! A free show!"

They broke apart quick after that. Leia leaped off the bed, glad Harry hadn't gotten her bra off. She covered herself with her arms as Roberto Fettara whistled. He might have been admiring her. It was too hard to tell with the dark glasses he wore even indoors and at night. "Hey doll, don't spoil the view!"

"You bastard!" Harry scrambled off the bed after her. "Don't even think what you're thinkin' of. This lady has more brains and class in her little finger than you have in your entire body!"

Fettara smirked and looked Leia up and down, even as she tried to hide her lacy bra and slip. "You're too cute for this asshole, doll. I could show you a really good time."

"No thank you. I'd rather do..." Leia got close enough to him to knee him in the groin. "This!"

She grabbed his pistol and her dress the moment he doubled over. "Nice work," Harry's grin was more genuine this time, "Leia." He gave Fettara a solid punch that knocked him over a chair.

Leia put her pistol aside long enough to slip her dress over her head and grab her purse with the notebooks in them. The moment Fettara started moaning, she held the pistol to his head. "Freeze, you piece of shit. You so much as look at me the wrong way, and I'll blow your brains half-way back to Sicily."

Harry's jaw dropped. "Leia, how many gangster shows have you been listening to lately?"

The look of fury in her eyes as she tossed him his shirt made him step back a pace or two. "Get dressed. We need to tie up this jerk, find Charel and Clarence, and get out of here."

The sound of angry ranting in Russian ended any of those plans. Charel was shoved into the bedroom. He was disheveled and red-faced, but at least he seemed to be all right. Which was more than could be said of Clarence. The slender secretary had hitched a ride on Charel's back and was whining to whomever would listen about his sore ribs and how he told everyone this would happen.

Leia wasn't terribly surprised when Vader, impeccable in his gray suit and fedora, strode in, followed by five of his goons. Laurence brought up the rear. "We would be honored," Vader hissed, "if you would join us for breakfast."

"I had no choice." The hotel owner's honey voice was stiff with anger and sadness. "They arrived right before you did. I'm sorry."

One of the white-clad goons pried the pistol from Leia's hands while two more removed Harry's gun from his holster hanging on the bedside table. Another helped Fettara to his feet and returned his gun to him. The bounty hunter shoved his gun at the pilot's back, but Harry's eyes were on his former friend. "I'm sorry, too." He took Leia's arm. She accepted it gratefully, glaring at Vader and Lance as they were escorted out of the room.

"Dr. Mothma?" Luke held the phone in the booth to his ear while trying to juggle his notebook and pen. His satchel sat beside him. "Hi. It's Luke Skylark. I'm in San Francisco, visiting a friend of Ben's. Have you heard from Leia recently?"

"Not in the last few days." Dr. Mothma's throaty voice held a note of worry. "The last time I talked to her, she'd just arrived at the Hotel Ville du Nuage in Bespin, run by a Laurence Carlyle." Her voice turned frosty. "I talked to some friends in the FBI. He was wanted for fraud, theft, smuggling, and illegal gambling. Evidently, they never found any hard evidence and let him go. No wonder Leia thought he could tell her something about the antiquities black market. Sounds like it's right up his alley."

Luke gulped. "Did he have any involvement with gangsters or the Empire?"

"Not the Empire, not that I know of. If anything, it sounds like he was smuggling artifacts under their nose." There was the sound of shuffling papers under the phone receiver. "I've been trying to get a hold of her, but the concierge says she's no longer staying at the hotel. I don't know where they are now. Vader was reported having been seen in the Bespin area. Him and his enforcers."

"Damn it!" Luke groaned. "I knew it. She is in trouble! Dr. Mothma, I booked the next available flight to France. I'll be at Bespin with Dr. Yoda Chiang and Arthur Deton probably in the next few days. I already called Miss Tano and told her where I'm going. If you don't hear from Leia, Dr. Chiang, or me by the end of the week, call the government. This could be big!"

He slid in another quarter. "Oh, and we have the..." his voice dropped a little. "Sword of Light. It's at Dr. Chiang's house for safekeeping for now, in his collection. He has the only key."

"I don't like any of this. I wish you'd take a little more help with you and would send the Sword to somewhere safer." Dr. Mothma sighed. "Please be careful, Luke. Leia may already be in danger."

"Don't worry, Doc. I'm prepared for anything. I know what I'm doing." He hung up the phone and retrieved the quarter, muttering under his breath. "I hope I know what I'm doing."

"You ready, kid?" Artie knocked on the door of the phone booth, his suitcase under one arm. "Yoda's already with your buddy Wedge. He's trying to give him advice on fixing the engine. Let's get back there, before Wedge tosses him in the bay."

"Yeah, I'm ready." Luke stepped out of the pagoda-shaped phone booth. "I just need to tell Wedge where we're going."

"Hey kid," Artie asked with a grin, "where are we going?"

Luke returned his big smile. "Artie, have you ever wanted a vacation on the glamorous French Riviera?"

Leia would have questioned the "glamorous" part at that point. They'd been dragged downstairs to the hotel's boiler room. She screamed as Harry's wrists and ankles were bound tightly with cord taken from a shelf in a storage room, then tied to the hulking boiler. Two of Vader's men bound her to a rattan chair with a broken wicker back.

Harry winced at the heat rising from the boiler, even in early September. He nodded at Leia. "Just one thing. Let her and the other two go. They ain't got nothin' to do with me n' Yasmin."

"Ahh, Mrs. Hutt." Vader's attempt at a chuckle sounded more like the steam coming off the boiler. "Quite a formidable woman, for one with her considerable...assets. She wishes for me to return you alive. She says she has ways of dealing with scum like you."

"Yeah." Harry's lazy smirk was more like a sneer. "I'll bet she does."

"Vader, no!" Leia struggled wildly in her bonds. "He doesn't know anything! I'm the one you want!"

"You're one of the ones I want." Vader nodded at his men behind him, where his men carried heavy coils of rope. Fettara was smoking a cigar, ignoring the sign that said not to smoke around the boiler. "He's all yours, gentlemen. Don't play too roughly with him. Mrs. Hutt wouldn't like that."

He went behind Leia as the men whipped their cords across the pilot's back until he screamed in anguish. Fettara ordered the goons to roll up Harry's sleeves. He ran the glowing cigar butt down one of Harry's arms, then the other, before pressing his chest into the steaming metal. One of the men in white clamped a hand over Harry's mouth to keep his shrieks of pain from going up the boilers. Vader's hand went over Leia's before she could let out her own angry protests.

When Harry finally slumped to the floor, they were both dumped in a storage room in the basement, just off the main boiler room. Clarence was fussing at Charel as he tried to wrap a swollen ankle. Harry landed on his hands and knees, barely able to move. Leia and his co-pilot went quickly to his side.

Charel took his friend's hand and tried to get him to his feet, but his legs buckled almost as soon as he was upright. Harry groaned as the big Russian set him on a musty bed with a ripped mattress. "I feel terrible. They kicked the shit out of me, but they never asked me any questions."

"They're after us." Leia sat on the bed and took his head in her lap. Her fingers gently ran through his scruffy mop of hair. "Vader wants the sword and our Force powers." She kissed his forehead tenderly.

"I'm not going back to Yasmin," Harry murmured. "She may be smart and a looker, but she has all the compassion of a dead fish." Charel frowned and let out something concerned in Russian as he started wrapping old torn linens around Chip's chest. "I don't care how much money we owe her, buddy. She tried to have me killed. Twice, actually. I'm pretty sure Gredoni wanted my hide, too."

"There's nothing we can do about this tonight." Leia tucked an old blanket under Harry's head. "Let's try to get some rest. We'll figure this out in the morning."

"Yeah." Her erstwhile lover winced and rubbed his head. "Maybe my brain will stop throbbing by then."

They awoke the next morning to find that a tray of fruit, sausages, and bread had been left in their room. "Well," Leia admitted as she bit into a sausage, "at least they don't want us to go hungry."

"And the food's not bad, either." Harry ate heartily, for someone who had been savagely beaten the night before. "Looks like my so-called buddy at least doesn't want to poison us."

Charel barked something between gulps of coffee. Clarence nodded as he picked at his orange slices. "I agree, Mr. Bacca. I can't help feeling there's something terribly wrong, especially after last night. They're going to kill us, or throw us into freezers and turn us into human ice cubes! I've seen the gangster serials. I know what they're capable of."

Leia rolled her eyes. "That's ridiculous. You and Artie need to stop spending your Saturday afternoons watching serials with the kids." 

They had just finished eating when Laurence came in, followed by Fettara and several of Vader's "enforcers" in the long white jackets. Charel let out a string of what Leia presumed to be Russian epithets, holding up a fist in their direction. "Get out of here, Larry," Harry snarled, "before I knock your teeth out and Char does worse."

"Would you just shut up and listen to me, for once?" Even under duress, Laurence was still dressed in the height of summer fashion. His creamy yellow suit was as dapper as his face was nervous. "Vader wants to see you all in the offices upstairs. He's turning Harry over to Mrs. Hutt and Mr. Fettara."

"Vader isn't after him." Leia's glare was scathing. "He wants my brother and me. We have...my brother Luke has an artifact he desperately wants, and you and I know where the other one is."

"No, Vader does want him." Fettara crossed his arms smugly. "My boss already has first dibbs. Vader can have what's left when she's done."

"All I know is, some guy named Luke is on his way here." Lance stepped back at the fire in Leia and Harry's eyes. "My friend Niem Numiez is a pilot. He saw him and some short black guy landing in a rattletrap old British plane from the war. My manservant Pierre is picking him and his friend up as we speak."

"Oh no!" Clarence wailed. "I swear sir, Arthur hasn't done anything recently!"

"You fixed us all really good, didn't you?" Harry managed to get stiffly to his feet. "You are no friend of mine!" He lunged for Larry before anyone could stop him. His fists lit up, hitting Larry in the chin with a crack that sent him across the room and over an old ottoman. It took three of Vader's lackeys to get Harry's arms into handcuffs. Charel had started in on two more, but he was also cuffed.

"Do you want to try something, bella bambola?" Fettara leered at her and grabbed her arm. His grip was like steel.

Leia managed to extricate herself from his rough fingers. "Not with all of you staring at me like the blue-plate special." She ducked away to Harry's side, wiping at his bloody brow with a rag she'd found in the storage room and had dusted off. "You certainly have a way with people."

Vader was waiting for them in what Leia presumed to be Laurence's office, at the very end of the main hall on the ground floor. She pushed to the front of the group the moment they arrived. The hulking man in black had lightened his usual wardrobe to a dove-gray suit with a wide-brimmed gray straw fedora. Otherwise, he looked much the same, including the black leather gloves that must have been beastly hot in this climate. His distorted lips were set in a thin line as he steepled his sausage-like fingers.

The office was decorated in the same Art Deco-meets-the-Mediterranian style as the rest of the hotel, with lots of curvy rattan furniture and spiky blond wood. Leia noticed a long, narrow wooden crate that took up almost all of the window seat in the back of the room.

"Vader," she demanded, "I want you to let us go. You know we're not going to tell you where the Sword of Light or the Sword of Wisdom are."

"I already know where the Sword of Light is. It'll be in our hands shortly." His hiss made him sound like the boiler downstairs. "As for the Sword of Wisdom, I had a long chat with Mr. Carlyle last week. It seems that it belongs to a Mrs. Yasmin Hutt of Los Angeles. It came into her possession as part of a delivery of illegal antiquities that were looted many years ago from Latin America. I talked to her people, did a bit of bartering. We agreed to trade Captain Solomon for the Sword and other antiquities in her possession." 

"You did what?!" Leia was about ready to reach over and belt Larry in the chin herself. She turned her red face and tight fist on him. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Yeah, or me?" Harry tried to get at him again, but two of the goons had a tight grip on his arms. "You know I don't want to go back to Yasmin. Damn it Larry, if she thinks she can use me like she does all those pretty boys she keeps on a leash, she has another thing comin'!"

"He did it to keep this lovely hotel of his standing." Vader's smirk chillingly resembled Luke's when he was being cocky. "Cooperated with us quite nicely after we had a long...er, chat."

"You threatened him." Leia put both her palms on the table, trying to ignore the itch to slap him. "Vader, you know Luke and I are not going to do what you want us to. We would never, ever, in a million years work for you or that lunatic dictator you're a slave to, so you can just forget this all right now!"

"You have no choice in the matter, Miss Skylark." He nodded at Fettara and waved at the crate. "Solomon is all yours, bounty hunter. Yours and Mrs. Hutt's, with my blessings"

"What if he doesn't survive in that thing?" Fettara nudged the back of the crate with his gun. "He's worth a lot to me."

"The Empire and Dark Star Industries will compensate you for your loss." Two of Vader's goons pried open the top of the crate with crowbars. "Load Solomon in, gentlemen."

"What? Are you crazy? There's no way I'm traveling in that!" Harry tried back away, but he ran into another goon. "I ain't a piece of furniture!"

Fettara gave him a low chuckle. "It's not exactly a luxury plane trip, but it's the only way I figured I'd be able to transport you to LA without you getting into trouble."

Charel attempted to pound the men surrounding him, but he was still cuffed. "No, please!" Clarence whined on the big Russian's back. "He doesn't mean it! He's just upset!"

"Char, stop! This ain't helpin' me!" Harry put his own bound hand on his friend's. "Save your strength, comrade. There'll be another time." He nodded at Leia. "You have to take care of Leia and Luke and the others. Make sure they get to...well, where they're going. Ok?" Charel nodded, but there were tears flowing down his cheeks, soaking his magnificent brown beard.

Leia kicked at the goon's shin and threw her arms around Harry as soon as the man started hopping around. "No! I won't let you do this! Harry, I love you!"

Harry nodded, his usual tiny smirk now a sad smile. "I know." The captured pilot gently tipped her chin forward and gave her the most passionate kiss she had ever experienced. It made her insides turn hot and mushy and her knees shake. She would have ended up on the floor if she hadn't been clutching him for dear life.

They were kissing again when strong leather hands wrapped around her arm and ripped her from his side. "Enough of this." Vader wrapped one arm around Leia, ignoring her struggles. "Put him in."

Charel let out a great Russian roar as one of the men whipped Harry across the back of his head with the handle of his gun. The moment he went down, they lifted him by his arms and legs and dropped him in the open crate. There were just enough holes in the top of the crate to allow him to breathe. Otherwise, it looked like an ordinary wooden box. Leia's screams and Clarence's whimpering joined the sound of the hammers as two of his men nailed the crate tightly closed.

"Take the girl, the Russian, and the blond man to my car." He pushed Leia at Laurence. "I have a little...matter...to deal with."

Now it was Larry's turn for the freezing glare. "You said they'd be left here under my supervision!"

"I'm altering the deal, Negro." Vader's deep voice brooked no argument. "Pray I don't alter it any further."

Larry followed him and the goons out as they made for the front door. "This deal is getting worse all the time." This was just about the stupidest thing he'd ever done. He knew that now...and he knew what he had to do to make up for it.

Leia mournfully watched two of the goons lift Harry's crate onto a long metal cart and wheel him to the back loading dock to notice. She got the fleeting image of Maurice stepping behind the counter and picking up the phone before she and the others were ushered out to the main parking lot.

Wouldn't you know it, her silly brother and his two friends were already there. "Leia!" Luke rushed to her side, still taking notes in his little book as his gray shirtsleeves flapped around him. Artie and a short Chinese man in a pale green suit ambled along behind him. "We're here to rescue you!"

"Luke, no! It's a trap!" She stomped at the goon's foot, but he pulled it away. "Get out of here!"

"Arthur, please!" Clarence was being carried bodily by another one of the men. He trembled like a leaf in their arms. "Get Mr. Luke away from these horrible people!" Charel's Russian and his fuzzy arms waving in the direction of the downtown area seemed to indicate something similar.

"Vader!" Luke saw the flutter of the older man's gray suit going around the back of the hotel. "I've got to stop him!" He looked torn between saving his sister and getting the scoop on the man who murdered his parents and destroyed his father's work.

"Let me help you there, kid." Leia's eyes widened as four police cars drove up to the parking lot. Laurence held a gun on the man who had been dragging her. "Inspector, I want you to arrest these gentlemen. They're working with a known smuggler and are disturbing the peace and my customers."

"Merci, Monsieur Carlyle." A man in a long khaki coat and straw fedora easily disarmed the goon as the rest of Vader's "enforcers" dropped their weapons. "Thank you for bringing these criminals to our attention. They will be taken into our custody. My men search for their ringleader as we speak."

Charel growled and pointed towards the back of the hotel. Laurence nodded. "Comrade Bacca's right. A fellow smuggler and bounty hunter kidnapped Captain Harold Solomon, an old, er, amie of mine. They're taking him to a Mrs. Yasmin Hutt in Los Angeles."

"Zut alors!" Inspector Clouson wrinkled his nose. "I have heard of her. She is, how you say it, a very dangerous woman. She traffics in everything from antiquities to exotic animals to human life. Many young men looking to become cinema stars have been taken in by her, only to be found not in their right mind, with no memory of where they go or what they do."

Luke frowned. "The ringleader. Vader. Have you seen him?"

"Not here, he is." Yoda had been standing placidly next to Artie the entire time, his slightly greenish countenance barely ruffled by the ensuing drama. "Inside, he has gone. Bad intentions he has, I fear."

"Mais oui, petit Chinois man." The Inspector took Luke's arm. "I agree. Let le police handle him, Monsieur."

"No!" Luke pushed him away. "I think there's a story here. I'm going to get that scoop on his activities, even if it takes me all year!" He darted through the revolving doors and back into the hotel.

"I think he's right." Leia swiped Laurence's gun. "Laurence, take Charel and the cops and stop Fettara's car, before he gets away with Harry and Charel throttles you." To the surprise of Laurence and every cop there, she easily adjusted the gun and checked the remaining bullets. "I'm going after Vader and my brother. When Luke's thinking of a story, he doesn't think of anything else, including his own safety."

"Bad idea, this is, young Leia Skylark." Yoda tugged at the skirt of her bedraggled red gown. "After you as well, he is. Wants your abilities."

"Yeah, well, I'll give him those abilities up his half-machine ass." Leia stuck the gun in her waistband. "With interest." Ignoring Yoda's remaining protests, she ducked back inside.

The building was oddly quiet. Laurence must have evacuated before the cops arrived. Her heels clicked against the checkered tile floor of the main lobby. Every sense she had tingled like a thousand bolts of electricity. Vader was in this building...and he had her brother. He'd already taken her parents and the man she loved and stolen part of her godfather's life's work. She would not let him harm her brother the same way.

"Leia!" Luke was here...and he was scared to death. "Leia, get out! Go get Harry!" She turned around, gun drawn, just in time to see Vader stride out of the office. He had Luke in a headlock under one arm and held a gun to his head.

"I want those plans, Skylark." Vader kicked open a narrow door. "If you want to see your precious brother again, meet me on the roof. Bring Dr. Organa's notebooks...and nothing else. If I see one person with you, I'll corrupt your brother's magic faster than you can shoot." He darted up the stairs just as Leia shot at him. The bullet hit the wall in the stairwell, leaving a small, jagged hole.

"Damn it!" Leia was about to go after them when she heard the rumble of an engine. She ran back outside...just in time to see a familiar green armored truck go flying past two cop cars and down Le Avenue del Mer. The top of the crate that held Harry was clearly visible in the truck bed. She ran as fast as she could past the two cop cars, shooting at the rusty vehicle while screaming like a madwoman at the top of her lungs. "Come back here, you bastard!" The gendarmes were already on their way down the road, but Leia suspected it would do no good. The truck was already out of sight.

Another car, a soft yellow Rolls Royce, carreened around a corner before stopping in front of Leia. Laurence leaned out, his blinding model smile on full display. Charel had shotgun. Artie was wrapping Clarence's ankle with gauze in the back. "Hey there, lady. Want a lift?"

"No." Leia shoved her gun in her purse. "Vader has my brother on the roof. I'm going after them."

Charel shook his head and let out a series of growls. Laurence nodded. "I agree. I don't think you should go alone. Vader may be planning something."

"I know he is. And I'm not going alone." Her grin was almost as snarky as Harry's. "You gentlemen will be right under me."

Leia stepped out onto the roof about twenty minutes later. It was hot, but a soft, salt-scented breeze from the ocean ruffled her hair in their twin looped braids. "Vader? Luke?" No one answered. The only sounds were the laughter of people on the beach and the occasional twitter of birds.

"Miss Skylark." The sizzle and pop of the Force beam drew her into the shadows. "You are not a Guardian yet."

"I don't care about that, Vader." Leia dove under the beam, which put a small hole into part of the roof behind her. She held out the gun, planting both heel-clad feet on the tarred roof. "You've already taken Harry and my parents from me. I want my brother. Now." The catch on the gun clicked. "Or I'll blow out your heart, if you have one."

"Leia!" Luke tumbled onto the ground before her, landing on his hands and knees. "Leia, please! Get out of here! He'll hurt you!" Her brother was black and blue all over, there was a cut above his left eye that might need stitches and another, thinner one on his neck. "Leia, please! He's...he's..."

"Come with me, Miss Skylark." Vader moved closer to her as Luke scrambled to her side. "I have money. I could fund your expedition, give you equipment, tools. Anything you wanted. We could find the Sword of Strength and the Death Star weapon."

"So that's what you're after." Leia pulled back, pushing Luke behind her. "I read that in Papa Bail's notes, too. When the three swords are pushed into one vessel in the Temple of the Guardians, it's said to give you infinite control of the Force. You can kill or heal in a moment's notice."

"You don't know what that weapon could do for our new world order. A world where people obey and listen. Where they don't laugh at theories they don't understand." Vader waved his hand, making the gun jump into his. He threw it back into the stairwell. "I want you both to join me. Join us. With our combined strength, we could restore Alderaan to its former glory and end this destructive world conflict."

"No, Vader!" Luke was shaking his head, his blue eyes pleading, but Leia ignored him. "I won't let you destroy Luke and me like you did our parents. Like you did our father."

"Your father." Vader's hiss came out more like a snort. "Benton Kenobi never told you what happened to your father, did he?"

"He told us enough!" Leia's voice had risen to a shriek. "He told us you killed him!"

"No, Leia!" Luke grabbed her hand. "He's...he told me coming up here that he's..."

Vader leaned over and touched her cheek. His beefy fingers were surprisingly gentle under all that leather. "You look so much like your mother." The whisper was faraway, lost in an ancient dream. "She had that chestnut hair, and those eyes...they always looked into your soul. I could never keep anything from her. But...you have my temper, my ambition..."

"No." Leia yanked away as if she'd been stung, her eyes wide with the realization. "No. You can't be! You can't! He's dead! Andrew Skylark is dead!"

"He's only dead on the inside." Vader...Father...took off his fedora. His hairless head was a mass of burns and pits and craters, looking more like the side of the moon than a human face. "I am your father, children. Benton and Bail thought they could hide you two from me on the farm. It never would have lasted long. The moment you came into your powers, I'd find you."

"He told me." Luke shivered from head to toe, his blue eyes dark with anger and horror. He pointed a shaking finger at Vader. "He told me on the way up here. He said...he said he'd corrupt our Force powers...his powers are like mine..."

"Never!" Leia grabbed at the hilt of the sword, trying to yank it out of his hand. "This belongs in a museum! Papa Bail searched for it for thirty years, and I'm not about to let you destroy his life's work, like you killed him and his workers."

"Don't trifle with me, girl!" Vader swung the sword to knock her away, slashing her hand with the sharp crystals embedded in the blade. Leia screamed and drew back, clutching her heavily bleeding hand. "You don't know what you're up against. I could teach you. Let me show you the ways of the Force."

He forced open her purse and yanked out several papers. "Ahh. Dr. Organa's maps and notes to the temple. These should be most useful. Let this be your first lesson, child. A Guardian of the Force never lets their guard down." He folded the papers and slid them in a pocket in his coat.

"No!" Leia's hand hurt like hell, but she still managed to grit her teeth and glare wrathfully at the hulking man in stony gray. "That's Papa Bail's life work!"

Vader shoved Leia against the side of the roof. He held her arms, his face so close, she could hear his raspy breathing. "Come with me, daughter. It's the only way."

"I wouldn't want you to show us the ways of the Brookyln Dodgers!" Luke leaped onto Vader's back, trying to reach into his jacket and grab back the papers. "Leave my sister alone!"

Vader barked angrily, trying to shake his son off, but Luke held firmly to his broad shoulders. Leia managed to grab her purse and make for the nearest fire escape. Luke finally jumped off his father's back, just in time for him to run into a radio antenna.

Luke made a face. "I hope no one wanted to hear _Fibber McGee and Molly_ tonight." He quickly followed Leia to the fire escape before Vader could recover.

His sister was tying a handkerchief around her wound when he reached her at the next floor. "Did you get the notes?"

"Some of them." He handed her the notebook. "I could only get this. He still has the individual maps."

"That's something. We'll go after the rest later." Leia shoved her purse under her arm. "Right now, we're getting out of here."

"Good idea." Luke started to force open a window, but Leia was already climbing over the railing. "Sis," he said with wide blue eyes, "what are you doing?"

"This." She grabbed Luke's hand. "Follow me."

"Leia, are you..." They ducked as a blast of red light nearly melted part of the railings. Luke gave her a sheepish look. "Uh...do you want to jump first, or should I?"

"We both will." Leia climbed over the remains of the railing, followed quickly by her brother as a familiar hulking figure started downstairs. "Ok, then. Let's go!"

Leia took her brother's hand and jumped. There was the brief feeling of floating through the sea breeze like a seagull feather...before they broke through a fabric roof. Her legs made contact with something surprisingly soft.

She opened her eyes as a Russian grumble and a very New York "geddoff, kid!" met her ears. Her legs were tangled with Charel's long cotton-clad ones, as she'd seemed to have landed in his lap. Luke was attempting to unwind himself from Artie and Clarence.

"That was total madness!" Clarence wailed. "What were you two thinking?"

A beam of red light hit the back of the car. "Hey!" Laurence leaned out and shook his fist at the massive man on the fire escape. "I paid good money for this car! That's going on your bill, Vader!"

"Matter at the moment, it does not." Yoda had somehow managed to rate the front passenger seat and looked as calm and unruffled as if he were drinking tea in his own parlor. "Leave this place, we must, before Vader comes looking for us."

"He's right." Leia wrapped part of her sleeve around her hand. "But first, we have to stop at a hospital. I think I might need stitches on this, and it hurts like hell."

Laurence made a face. "What were you two doing up there?"

"Learning more about our family history than we ever wanted to know." Leia frowned. "I'm guessing neither you nor the police were able to catch up with Fettara."

Artie finally managed to push Luke onto Clarence. "We tried, but he was already gone by the time we were half-way down the road. The cops are already looking for him."

Charel's growls drowned out everyone else. "I agree, buddy." Laurence turned his car around, heading out of town. "We're going to LA. I still have connections in that town. I can get us into the Hutt's club without being detected."

"It'll be easier for us." Luke pulled out his notes. "She doesn't know Leia or Artie or Clarence or Yoda or me."

Yoda blushed. "True, this is not." His slightly greenish face turned a little red. "Encounters with Mrs. Hutt, I have had before. Andrew Skylark, too. Fellow gangster kidnapped Mrs. Hutt's husband's infant son, wanted to trade him for artifact. Put a stop to that, Andrew did."

"Miss Tano told me about that one." Luke flipped his notebook, reading over one of the pages. "It was one of the first stories she ever wrote. Made the front page too. She said she worked pretty closely with Dad for a while, but got into a tussle with one of her fellow writers and moved to editing instead."

"Is there a way we could get an in with her?" Leia tried to shift on Charel's big lap, but it still felt awkward. "I don't think she'll let all of us just walk in the door."

"Nightclubs always need help, especially in LA." Laurence made a sharp turn that took them away from the rocky road along the ocean and further inland. "I could probably squeeze in with the orchestra. I know some guys in Duke Ellington's band. Either that, or I might be able to get in as security." Charel snorted, his deep voice rumbling almost as hard as the tires under them. "You, we could definitely pass as security, or even sneak in the kitchen."

"Talk to Miss Tano, I will." Yoda's little mouth went down. "Will also talk to FBI. Know about this woman, they should, if they don't already."

"Talk to Agent Rieekian." Leia had to brace herself from going out the window as they went around another curve. "He's an old friend of Papa Bail's. He knows a lot about the smuggling rackets."

"I might be able to get in as a waiter or a doorman." Artie leaned over and grabbed Clarence's arm. "And here's Mrs. Hutt's newest secretary and translator."

"What?" Clarence's jaw nearly ended up on the floor. "I'm not getting involved in this! I'm in bad enough shape as it is!"

"We're going to need all the help we can get." Leia winced at the blood on her handkerchief. "Right now, let's get going. The more time we waste, the less time we have to go after Harry and the Sword of Wisdom.

Leia tumbled out the moment Laurence stopped at the shiny new air field. "I'm driving." Laurence pulled a dark leather suitcase out of the trunk and handed it to a small, droopy-faced man with a thin mustache who came running over. "Here, Nieno. We're taking the Silver Falcon. Yes, my old plane." He chuckled as Nieno let out an excited stream of garbled Spanish. "Yes, we're going to need you, too. In fact, we're going to need a lot of help. We're going treasure hunting."

Leia raised an eyebrow as Nieno tossed Laurence's suitcase in the back of the plane. "What's this 'we' stuff?"

"Us. All of us. Harry too. You're going to need more help finding that sword, especially once Vader catches up with us." Laurence gave her that blinding toothpaste smile again. "For now, let's go to Tinseltown and make sure Harry's mind and...other parts...are still in one piece."

"By the way," Leia took her brother's arm before they climbed into the Falcon, "what happened to the Sword of Light?"

"It's in the safest place possible." Luke shrugged. "On a rack with other knives and spears in Yoda's collection at his house. He's got a lock. If anyone sees it, they'll just think it's part of his collection."

"We'll swing over to San Francisco and send it along to Dr. Mothma after we rescue Harry." She grinned. "But right now, let's go save our fellow Guardian and keep the Sword of Wisdom from ending up in Vader's grubby mechanical hands."

Vader knew his boss was not going to be happy about losing the twins. He'd expected at least Luke to come with him. Leia...had too much of his temper for her own good. She'd be more difficult to deal with.

He met Palpatine in his room at the Hotel Ville Du Nuage less than an hour after his children escaped. The older man reposed quietly in a chair, a Paris newspaper open on his lap and a cup of strong Coruscant black coffee in his hand. "You weren't able to get them." He wore a black satin robe and had a knitted blanket over his lap, despite the warm day.

"They escaped with Carlyle and one of his men." Vader remained standing. "By the time our men were able to pursue them, the plane had been gone for an hour. They're likely half-way across the Atlantic by now."

"They're going to Los Angeles." Palpatine pursed his lips at the bitter brew. "True Guardians are drawn to one another, even if they don't realize it at first. It's why Kenobi couldn't resist returning to you, why your wife went after you before her death."

Vader's hiss faltered, as it always did when discussing his late wife. "Leia," he whispered. "She looks like Padme. Just like her. There's Wisdom in her soul, in her very voice. She has my temper, but her mother's ability to persuade anyone to do anything."

"Except you." Palpatine brushed the newspaper aside. "We can't go after them now. It's more than likely they'll go to the FBI. The last thing I want is Dr. Mothma and her tame agents involved in this."

"It wasn't a total loss." He pulled the papers out of his jacket. "My son got the notebook, but I have Dr. Organa's maps and other notes."

"That should work to our advantage." Palpatine pushed himself up on his black cane. "While they're dealing with Mrs. Hutt in Los Angeles, we'll be getting an early start to Guatemala."

"We know where the temples are," Vader hissed, "but not what we'll find when we enter them. The Alderaanians set up traps to keep the Spanish and other tribes from their treasures in and around the Temples of the Guardians, some quite gruesome."

Palpatine waved off his concerns. "We'll figure out how to deal with that when we get there." He started to the phone, walking more easily than a man of his age and infirmity would normally be expected to. "Now, let's call Admiral Piett and start organizing your crews and equipment. We'll need special weapons from your factory in the United States to deal with the natives and those...traps...in the temple as well."

Vader's cough came out more like a rough bark. "Master," he began, "when the time comes, I would like to train my children in the ways of the Guardians. I know we'd discussed that you wanted to, but..."

"There will be no buts." Palpatine reached up and smacked him lightly on the shoulder. "And this is why I'll be the one who teaches them. You're still learning, Vader. You were nothing but a crackpot tomb-robber with a head full of outlandish theories when I rescued you, took you in. I gave you everything. Everything you have, everything you are, belongs to me. You are not ready to be a teacher. You can barely handle your own temper."

Vader only nodded. "Yes, master." Inside, he was seething. Twenty years was a long time to be a student. He was starting to wonder when...or if...Palpatine would ever let him graduate. He'd quarreled with UCLA and the remaining Jedi of their treatment of him and his theories...but he was wondering if their ignoring his ideas was preferable to being the closest thing one could be to a slave without wearing a collar and cuffs.

He followed Palpatine into his parlor room to make the necessary calls...but inside, he was starting to form a plan of his own.

The Twin Suns Club was one of Hollywood's most lavish and popular night spots. Everyone who was anyone in Tinseltown dropped by after hours for one of their spicy Desert Palace cocktails with cinnamon and brandy. They'd dance the night away under the Art Deco starburst lamps to the music of resident orchestra Barry Fortune and His Desert Devils, surrounded by murals of Old Mexico and reproduction Aztec warrior masks and armor.

Show girls in barely-there costumes made of colorful feathers and beads kicked their legs and swung their hips in time to what sounded like a rhythmic native chant on a stage surrounded by real and paper mache tropical plants and palm trees. One man with a face so wrinkled, he resembled a human prune, grabbed the elbow of a tall young woman with thick black hair wound in braids with green ribbons and pushed her off-stage before the number was even done. Leia wondered what that was all about, but she didn't have the chance to consider it before she heard someone call out to Yasmin Hutt.

Yasmin Hutt was not the type of woman Leia expected her to be. When Leia walked in on Charel's arm, she figured Mrs. Hutt would be as formidable as she was described in the newspapers. They said she was a bitch of a businesswoman who wouldn't hesitate to sell her mother if the old lady hadn't conveniently died in 1930.

Her late husband Gerry Hutt had been over 300 pounds and had spent half of his life hunched over a rich meal (when he wasn't slapping her rear), but he still found the time to teach his wife everything he'd learned in 50 years about the smuggling trade. He finally dropped dead over a plate of sardines and toast four years ago. The coroner claimed it was a heart attack, but though Yasmin had been out of town, whispers circulated that a few fishy poisons had been added to his lunch.

She should have been wearing crown jewels, or at least holding a jeweled spear. Mrs. Yasmin Hutt was a tall, curvy platinum blond who filled out every inch of her sand-pink Chanel gown. Her lipstick was red enough to stand out on her slightly bronzed face. Even in her red dress from Bespin and with her hair piled on top of her head, Leia felt dowdy next to Yasmin.

Laurence waved a hand at her as she and Charel settled down at a table. Artie came up to their table, looking dapper in a pristine white dinner jacket. "Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Twins Suns Club."

"Artie," Leia whispered, "have you seen Harry yet? Where are the others?"

The short man shook his head. "No, and we've been looking for him. Luke said he's going to be around later. He's talking to Yoda and his lady boss. Something about making a few phone calls to some old friends of Miss Tano's."

"Harry has to be around here somewhere!" Leia's hiss sounded almost like Vader's. "The way Laurence was talking on the way here, she basically regards Harry as a plaything, something nice for her arm. Where would she..."

Her voice stopped the moment the front door opened. Roberto Fettara, now dressed in a black tux that seemed a little too big for him, lead Harry in, gently tugging on his arm. He'd never looked more gorgeous. The white tuxedo with the black vest and the red carnation and his shorter hairstyle gave him a movie-star sheen. He moved stiffly and without his usual swagger. His eyes were unfocused and clouded.

"Harry!" Even Yasmin's voice had a throaty purr. "My dear boy." She ran her fingers along his chest, pulling him closer. "I'm never letting you go again."

"Ahem." Leia had managed to elbow her way through the crowd long enough to make it to Yasmin's side. "Hello, Mrs. Hutt. My name is Dr. Leia Organa. I'm an archaeologist at UCLA who specializes in Latin American culture, and I'm very interested in these pieces you have here."

"It's nice to meet a real scientist, not just a collector like me." Yasmin's Pepsodent-white teeth had sharp edges. "My husband Gerry used to talk about the warriors of old Latin America, and he got me interested. I suppose you know all about their delicious methods of torturing their enemies. They used to do gruesome things involving removing hearts and rib bones."

"Yes." Leia quickly changed the subject. "Who's your friend?" She tried to push closer to Harry, but he didn't acknowledge her. He didn't even look her way. He stood frozen by Yasmin's side, like he was carved from ice. Yasmin fondled his chest and stroked his cheek and neck like he was a puppy. He whimpered deep in his throat, but otherwise said nothing.

"Oh, this is Mr. Harold Solomon." Yasmin squeezed his hand. "He's my close friend." She leaned over Leia's ear, her blue eyes briefly narrowing. "Very close, personal friend, so don't get any ideas."

Leia's pasted a fake smile on her face. "Wouldn't dream of it." Harry's eyes were completely empty, showing no recognition at all. She coughed, trying not to lean around Yasmin and kiss him until the light came back into those hazel orbs. "I heard from certain sources that you have a Sword of Wisdom among your artifacts. I'd like to buy it, or study it. Alderaanian culture is my main area of study. My godfather Dr. Bail Organa searched for the swords for years."

Yasmin shook her head. "I don't know what your sources told you, but it's not for sale. It's the most valuable piece in my collection." She leaned over Harry, nibbling on his ear. He gave her a rather stupid smile. "Isn't that right, my cute little Harry-puppy? Mama doesn't sell her artifacts for anything. Not for even a million dollars."

Leia wanted to grab Harry by his broad shoulders and shake him, or shake Yasmin, or shake both of them until they rattled like china. "Then perhaps we can discuss them together? I've recently come across...other artifacts...and thought you might be interested."

The baby-blue eyes lit up like the sunburst sign on the side of the Twin Suns Club. "Perhaps we could discuss this tomorrow morning? I live at a place up in the hills. Very quiet, very cozy. Gerry built it as a love nest for us, and I can't bring myself to sell it. Besides," her throaty chuckle lacked anything like warmth, "it's a good place to conduct...certain business."

"Hey boss." One of the security guards waddled between them. Leia suspected they were more enforcers than security guards. Almost every one of them were uniformly fat and heavy-set, with fleshy jowls that made them closely resemble green pigs. "It's time for the ceremony. We got that Oola dame all ready for ya in the dressin' rooms."

"This is a bad time, Hunky." Yasmin's brilliant smile was now slightly pasted-on. "Would you excuse me, Dr. Skylark? Tonight's headlining act is about to begin." She linked her arm with Harry's. "It's time for tonight's ceremony, cutie pie. We'll get my pretty wittle boy settled down in our room for a little fun after I finish here." Leia nearly upchucked her dinner when Yasmin blew a strand of chestnut hair off his ear, and he actually giggled. It was nauseating.

Leia tried to step closer to Harry the moment Yasmin made for the dressing rooms, but three of her fat bodyguards instantly surrounded him. "Uh uh uh, doll face." Roberto Fettara showed her a nasty, toothy grin. "No touchie. Solomon is the boss lady's property now." He chuckled the chin of one of the chorus girls as she hurried off-stage, then sneered at Leia. "What the boss lady wants, the boss lady gets." He eventually followed the goons as they lead a dazed Harry to a booth in the raised section in the back, hidden behind real palms and glittering green celluloid bead curtains that gave it an intimate, jungle-like air.

"I don't like this." Clarence joined Leia as she pushed her way further to the front of the dance floor. "Mrs. Hutt hired me to translate Alderaanian into English for what she called a major 'spectacular' she's putting on for the audiences here. Most of those passages involved human sacrifice."

"I'm more concerned about what she's done to Harry and to the Sword." Leia frowned. "And her men took one of the chorus girls off-stage a few moments ago. From the way he looked, I don't think it was to give her a solo in the next number."

Even as Leia spoke, the house lights dimmed. The chorus girls returned, this time dancing in two rows down a bright floral carpet, their feathered costumes and fans flowing around the audience members as they glided and kicked. They were followed by six men in tight leather shorts and feathered headdresses, their long be-ribboned poles and feather-trimmed capes likely intended to make them resemble Alderaanian Jedi warriors and healers.

The drums that had been thumping incessantly from the orchestra reached a crescendo. Everyone looked up as four men in scanty loincloths carried two women on a litter that was lavishly decorated with tropical flowers, vines, and straw fringe. One of the women was Yasmin, who had traded her elegant gown for a leopard-print, halter-top blouse, wide belt with turquoise beads, and short skirt trimmed with fluffy pink marabou feathers. Pink, green, and yellow feathers sprouted from her head like a massive bird of paradise.

The chorus girl was by her side, but she seemed quite different than she was before. She now wore mainly ropes of white beads and crystals, her assets scarcely covered by strategically-placed white fabric flowers. Yasmin swung something heavy and golden in front of her eyes before quickly pushing it under her feather cape and shoving her out on the carpet to dance for the crowd. The girl's feet, so quick and able before, now moved sluggishly, as if she were in a dream. She had the same clouded eyes as Harry, and the same empty smile.

The women followed Yasmin up to the stage, where she reclined on a throne of wood covered in paste jewels. The litter bears tied the chorus girl to a heavy wooden table that had rose from under the stage floor.

"Some floor show, huh?" Laurence came up behind them, joining them and the crowd around the stage. "Yasmin used to be a hoofer herself. She knows something about theatrics."

"Shh!" Leia waved him away as four of the dancers sprinkled flower petals over the young woman, then did a routine that mostly involved shaking their hips and their chests before the music stopped and they posed on either side of the stage. Yasmin came up to the table, swinging the big pendant. "They're starting!"

"Ladies and gentlemen of our court," Yasmin began in a throaty rumble that resembled a tiger's growl, "we welcome you to the Kingdom of the Aztecs, the people of the sun and the worshipers of the great gods! We are here tonight for the wedding of our god with a virgin personally selected by the god's high priestess to become their bride!"

The lights went crazy as the girls danced around the table, Yasmin herself leaning over the "virgin" as she swung the pendant and whispered something into her ear. As the music and dancers reached a nearly deafening frenzy, a red-gold silk curtain like fire came down over the scene. When it rose again, the table was empty. The girl had vanished.

"The Gods have spoken!" Yasmin's shark grin was frightening in its intensity. "They have taken their bride into the Great Blue Beyond, where we know," she gave her purring chuckle, "that they will be very happy."

Leia frowned and turned to Laurence and Clarence as everyone bowed. "What was that all about? That wasn't an Aztec bridal ceremony. I've studied them. That was the final act of the night at Minksy's. I was waiting for Gypsy Rose Lee to come out and start tossing off her feathers."

Laurence frowned. "Rieekian told me that the lady on the table was Oola Twylar, a government agent. She's been undercover here and at Yasmin's place for months, trying to get the goods on her smuggling operations."

"At this point, I don't care what she's doing. I just want Harry back and to find the Sword." Her fingernails dug so far into her palm as she made a fist, her skin turned dead white. "Did you see him, Larry?" 

"Yeah, I saw him." Larry frowned. "You be careful. I'm guessing she drugged him, from the dazed look on his face. I don't want you to end up like him." Charel shook his shaggy mane and grumbled. Larry made a face. "He wasn't drugged? His eyes didn't look drugged? How do you know?" Charel's stream of Russian had an awfully satisfied sound. "You've seen other smugglers at Yasmin's try the product. Ok, Mr. Big Shot, if he isn't drugged, what is he?"

Leia started towards Harry, but Yasmin had already come out, now wearing her glittering pale pink gown again. They were surrounded by the piggy thugs in the green suits. The woman gangster was all but sitting in Harry's lap, playing with his hair and swinging the pendant in his eyes. His smile was dazed and rather stupid. Fettara was on their other side, nursing a Bloody Mary and grimacing at her sickening baby talk.

"We'll figure it out later." Leia started towards the door, before she punched Yasmin's perfect shark teeth out. "Come on. I told Luke we'd meet him at our apartment. He had a meeting with his boss at the paper today. Something about an idea for an article."

Luke had something to write about, all right. Leia heard him wake up in the middle of the night after their landlady banged on their door and said his boss wanted him. Luke could be up all night when he and Ben...when he was chasing a scoop. She tried to get back to sleep, but nightmares kept her tossing all night. Images of Harry dressed in a warrior's outfit, drugged and helpless, being dragged to a stone rock and chained hand and foot by a goddess in feathers, who leaned over to pluck out his heart...

She finally gave up sleeping around 5 AM and went to make herself coffee and eggs. They'd cleaned up the mess in their apartment after they got in the day before. Mama Breha wanted them to stay with her, but Leia concentrated better in her own home.

Her mind was almost functioning when there was a knock at the door. A young boy, no more than 12, handed her the early edition of The Daily Star. She'd sat down with it even before the kid was out the door with his money...and the headline made her nearly jump out of her seat again.

 **WOMAN DRIVES OFF CLIFF; FBI INVESTIGATING**

Evidently, somewhere around 3 AM, she'd sped through a guard rail on an especially tight curve in the Hollywood Hills and had plummeted to her death on the jagged rocks below. The lurid black-and-white photos on the front page showed every gruesome detail they could get away with.

"That's her." Leia's eyes widened. "That's the girl from the ceremony last night." The small photo next to the article showed the woman who had been pressed into service as "the god's bride."

"Miss Skylark?" Her landlady knocked on the door. "Your brother's calling you. Says it's a matter of life or death."

"I'll be there in a minute!" Leia dressed quickly in her most businesslike brown suit and heels, with the new trilby hat with the dashing feather she'd bought from Bullock's in a moment of weakness. "Here!" She dashed downstairs and took the phone from the older lady behind the counter. "Hello?"

"Leia!" Luke's voice sounded urgent and unusually weary for her eternally energetic sibling. "Did you see the Daily Star?"

"Yes, I did." She grinned, leaning against the counter. "Did you write that? Was that your first front-page story?"

"Yes, it was." The line crackled before her brother's worried tones resumed. "Leia, no one can figure out why that woman did this. I've talked to Agent Rieekian. He thinks there might be foul play involved."

"I know so." Leia pulled into an alcove, away from her landlady's extremely acute sense of hearing. "I overheard Yasmin Hutt's goons say they had her 'ready' in the dressing rooms. Probably drugged her down there and pushed her car off a cliff later. "

"It wasn't pushed. There was no one else there." The loss of Ben and his week with Yoda must have sobered up her brother a bit. "I was there at the site for most of last night. The police did a thorough examination. Nothing seems to be amiss. The car didn't look like it was tampered with. Rieekian insists she had no problems, and had actually came to him yesterday about a possible big break in the case."

"Luke, I'm going to Yasmin's house today. I'll be leaving in a few minutes, actually." Leia checked her watch. She had just enough time to call Artie and have him bring around the Packard. Luke probably took their car last night. "Yasmin Hutt wanted to discuss her collection of Alderaanian antiquities."

"Are you crazy?" Luke squawked so loudly, she had to hold the phone away from her ear. "Leia, wait there. I'm going with you."

"I have Artie, Luke." She sighed. "I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself."

"No, Leia." Papers shuffled and a typewriter dinged. Her brother must have already been at the Daily Star building, working on his next article. "I'm coming with you. This woman is dangerous. If she has the Sword of Wisdom..."

"How would she know how it works?" Leia sighed louder. "Fine, Luke. You could say you're asking for an interview. How about you come at 10:30? I want to talk to her on my own before you do your job."

"All right." His voice was a bit muffled as he called for a copy boy, but he quickly returned to his sister. "Be careful." 

"I will." She hung up and quickly headed out, before her landlady could ask any questions.

While modest in size compared to some of the near-castles in the Hollywood Hills, the Hutt's home was still three times the size of her entire apartment building, and even larger than Mama Breha's house. Unlike the cozy Spanish Revival home Mama Breha favored, the Hutt's home was all clean lines and modern Art Deco boxes. Artie drove her through the gates and down a driveway lined with olive and fig trees.

"You sure you don't want anyone coming in with you?" Artie frowned as he pulled up to the front door. "Charel and Clarence are already there. Clarence got a job as her secretary, and Charel's working security."

"Would all of you stop worrying about me? I'll be fine." Leia leaned over and gave Artie a squeeze. "If something happens, I'll send Clarence or Charel out, ok? It's more likely we'll be coming out with Harry. When you see us, let us in, then step on it."

Artie sighed. "I hope this works, kiddo."

"It will." Leia patted his shoulder, grabbed her purse, and headed for the front door.

A butler lead her in through a series of wide, airy rooms, all with tall windows that showed a sweeping view of Beachwood Canyon and Los Angeles. "Mrs. Hutt was called away suddenly," the butler explained in a nasal oink of a voice. He was another one of those fat men in the green suits who had been part of Yasmin's entourage the night before. "A phone call from a client. She should be back in a half-hour."

He flung open the door to what looked like a study, with shelves of books behind a wide, curvy walnut desk. There were several Alderaanian artifacts in the room, mainly pottery under glass cases and framed maps on the walls. She saw no weapons of any kind. "Would you like something to drink, or eat?"

Leia smiled as she settled in a chair. "I'll have an iced tea, please, if you have it. No sugar."

"Sure." The pig-goon swung open the curtains, letting the morning sunlight pour into the room. "I'll be back in a few minutes. Don't go anywhere."

Her smile turned icky-sweet. "I wouldn't dream of it."

The moment he left, she got up and peered out the door. Harry had to be in one of these rooms. She wished she'd asked the pig goon where Yasmin's bedroom was. It was most likely he'd be kept there. It made Leia's blood boil to know that her Harry was being used as a lapdog for a gangster's spoiled wife! He'd proved himself to be worthy of any Alderaanian Jedi...well, almost, anyway. Sure, he could be a scoundrel, but that was part of his charm.

She nearly ran headlong into Charel as he was coming around a corner. "Yikes!" His big, beefy hand went quickly over her mouth. "Sorry!" she gasped, though it was muffled through his hairy fingers. "Wasn't expecting to see anyone here." He wore a white jacket, buttoned-up to his thick neck, and black trousers. Probably a houseboy's outfit, she figured, though he was a lot bigger than the houseboys usually were in the movies. "I'm looking for Harry while Yasmin Hutt isn't around. He's got to be here somewhere."

Charel waved his hand at a stairway and beckoned her to follow him. "You found him? He's upstairs?" He nodded, thudding up the wide, circular marble steps with the black metal railings. Leia followed him, trying to be much quieter than he was. At one point, she could have sworn she saw a slender shadow in a green and red-stripped suit and familiar fedora, but when she looked again, the shadow had disappeared into the morning light.

They padded down the upstairs hallway, with it's pale desert cliff red walls and dusty tan carpets. The carpet was so thick and plushy, her heels made no sound. The only sound was her breathing and the "click-click" of a gardener trimming hedges outside. Charel finally stopped in front of final room on the very end of the hall. He pulled open the turquoise door, letting Leia troop in.

The room was Art Deco meets southwest meets Broadway, with a huge glittering chandelier, rich blue walls the color of a Los Angeles sky, more of those thick sandy carpets, and heavy curved wood furnishing, including a massive king-sized canopy bed that more closely resembled the beds of the English princesses.

Harry lounged lazily in the center of the bed. The pilot was stretched out under a silk sheet, naked to his torso. He was freshly shaven and scrubbed pink, his brown hair damp and slicked back. He gazed up when she and Charel came in, but showed no recognition at all...or much of any other expression. His chest, a mountain of well-defined muscles that put Clark Gable to shame, almost made Leia weak in the knees.

"Harry!" She somehow managed to scramble onto the bed as Charel went to the door. "It's me, Leia. I have to get you out of here." He continued giving her that vacuous stare as she threw her arms around him. "What in the hell did she do to you?"

Harry's best friend growled as he peered around a corner. "I don't understand Russian, Char." Leia traced the scar along the dazed pilot's cheek, then let her finger wander down his neck and chest. He shuddered a little, but otherwise said nothing. "Yasmin did this, drugged him or hypnotized him somehow. I'll bet she hypnotized the agent who went off the cliff this morning, too."

As her fingers returned to his handsome face, she remembered seeing _Snow White_ with Luke and her best friend from college Winter at the Carthay Squre Theater downtown the year before. She'd scoffed at it as a child's fairy tale then...but Walt's Folly might help her now. The creator of Mickey Mouse certainly had one good idea. She leaned over and kissed him as passionately as she could.

He remained limp in her arms for a minute or two...but after a moment, his strong arms wrapped around her torso and pulled her into the kiss. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Charel avert his eyes and make for the door entrance. The big navigator was probably going to keep a look out for Yasmin.

At this point, Leia didn't care if Yasmin suddenly appeared with every piggish lackey from here to San Francisco. She wasn't going to let Harry out of her sight again. "Harry," she managed to breathe, "it's ok. I found you. I won't let her hurt you."

"Wh...where am I?" Harry squinted dazedly. "Is it really you? Why are you a blur?"

"Yes, it's me." She hugged him hard. "It's someone who loves you."

"Leia!" He leaned in for another passionate kiss. "I don't remember...anything. They dragged me out of that box about a week ago. Yasmin treated me like I was some doll she'd gotten off the shelf at Bullock's. I fought...but then..." he shook his head, as if to clear it, "I don't really remember what happened. She brought out some big jewel on a necklace." He closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. "That rock...it was green, but it kind of looked like the one on Luke's Sword of Light thing. Same cut..."

"The Sword of Wisdom!" Leia took his shoulders. "Harry, that rock is a khyber crystal from the Sword. That's how she's making all these big deals, how she got Oola to drive off a cliff. She's using the Sword to manipulate everyone's minds." She helped a wobbly Harry off the bed, wrapping a silk blanket around his bare torso. "Come on. We have to get out of here..."

The low, throaty female chuckle stopped the duo in their tracks. Harry groaned louder and clutched Leia. "Shit. I know that laugh."

"Well, hello there." They swung around to find Yasmin standing in the door. Two of her greenish goons flanked her. Roberto Fettara held a gun on Charel's barrel-shaped chest. Yasmin fingered the green stone affixed to a gold pendant on a long chain around her neck. It glistened on her pale yellow summer suit. "Fancy finding you in a room where you don't belong, Dr. Skylark. There's no artifacts here. That room is downstairs, in the west wing."

"How could you do this?" Leia firmly took Harry's hand. "That jewel belongs in a museum. It was never intended to be used to force smugglers into selling you cheap antiques, or to turn a man into your own private toy!"

"Look, Yasmin," Harry protested, "I was on my back to your place when I got a little side-tracked. It's not my fault!"

"I've heard that before, Harry dear." She chuckled his chin. "You're staying here, under lock and key, until tonight's ceremony. Your big friend will be locked in the room down the hall." Her goons forced Leia and Harry's hands apart, pushing Leia towards the door. "As for the eminent Dr. Skylark," her feral grin showed every bit of those ferocious blinding teeth, "leave her to me."

Leia was dragged to a room in the western wing of the house, just off the main entrance. It was more like a museum, with Alderaanian artifacts of every stripe – weapons, armor, strips of leather that may have been headdresses, pottery, blowpipes used to shoot poison darts, arrowheads, jewelry – were under well-lit glass shelves and cases. Her fingers itched to inspect each and every one of them. She would have bet her degree that every object in the room was part of an illegal smuggling deal.

"Yes, this is the collection I wanted you to catalog." Yasmin went around a heavy stone slab that was obviously being used as a desk. "Too bad you couldn't have done what you were told and waited for me. We could have worked together, Dr. Skylark."

Leia gave her a smirk Harry would have approved of. "I was never very good at following orders."

"Perhaps it's time you learned." Yasmin settled her shapely rear in a tight-fitting, heavily padded pale blue Schiaparelli suit with sword-shaped buttons. "You know," she added as she slowly pulled off her sky blue cotton gloves, "I'm going to have to do something with you. I can't get rid of you. Too many people know about you, including that reporter brother of yours. He was calling me this morning, asking me questions with that feral lady boss of his. Too many questions."

"That's his job," she snapped. Three men shoved her into a chair and bound her hand and foot with silk ropes from the drapes. "Maybe if you'd do something legal, like not murdering people and trying to mess with their minds, he wouldn't be bothering you."

"I didn't murder Oola." Yasmin pulled off the necklace, playing with the chain. "She was getting too close to my plans. I merely asked her what she knew, then planted a few suggestions in her empty little head. She said quite a mouthful."

"I'm sure." Leia tugged harder at the ropes on her wrists and ankles. "Look, let me go. You don't know what you're doing. You're not a Guardian. The Sword hasn't chosen you. It's chosen...someone else. I can feel it. It's calling them."

"I'm aware of that." She let loose with that throaty purr of a laugh again when Leia's eyes widened in surprise. "What? You thought I was just a gangster's trophy wife? I've done research, Dr. Skylark. When my husband made his deals with those thieves from Guatemala, I made a few calls, looked up a few books. I've done extensive reading on the artifacts of Alderaan and how they work. I don't care if the damn jewel is calling for its mother. It does what I want it to do." She dangled the necklace, letting the late morning sunlight from the windows behind her glint on the crystal. "And so will you."

"You're crazy." Leia glared at her. "You can't control the Sword. It's not your magic. It's not calling you."

"Oh no?" She leaned in a little closer, swinging the crystal slowly back and forth. "Perhaps you could tell that to Oola Twylar. I never liked that girl. I'd suspected for a long time that she was after information. Found her snooping around in the office at the Club yesterday. We took her downstairs, and I let her look into the crystal. She spilled every secret...including that she knew about the Sword and what I planned to do with it."

Beams of watery green light shot off in every direction as she twirled the pendant. "She was completely under my control by the end of the night. My boys really enjoyed it. You'd be surprised how many positions a body can take when under mind control." Her cruel shark jaws turned up into a near-parody of a smile. "It was too easy after that to persuade her to take her car and drive it off a cliff far enough to not implicate any of us."

Leia growled. "You're crazy! And what does this have to do with me?"

"You can't have a similar accident. Not if I don't want your brother and that libelous paper of his crawling all over the club and my home." She raised the pendant at eye level. "No one would notice, if you told me what you and your brother are up to...and where I can find the other two swords."

"I thought you were working with Vader."

"Him?" Yasmin snorted. "I just told him what I wanted to hear. There's no way I'm turning treasures like these over to him and that crazy Empire. Oh, I know what they're doing over there in Europe. It's killing a lot of my business. I can't get through half my regular European channels because Nazis and Imperials and who knows what else keeps invading them." She swung the pendant lightly. "Now, Dr. Skylark, you will look into the pendant."

Leia shrugged. "I don't feel anything."

"Look deeply into it. Deeper, my dear doctor." She came closer, swinging the pendant right at level with the girl's eyes. "That's right. Get lost in those colors, those beautiful, brilliant colors. Let your mind go. Don't think, dear. Don't think at all. Just lose yourself."

The colors...they were penetrating her mind...no! She shook her head, trying to focus and clear the rainbow fog out of her brain. A pale green light, so pale as to be barely visible, swirled softly around her hands, then her arms. It finally moved across her chest and up her neck, landing in her eyes. The Sword knew her. It wanted her, not this dark witch who controlled it.

"NO!" The light dissipated as Leia opened her eyes. Yasmin had leaped back, just in time for a beam of green light to sizzle across the room. It left a smoking hole in a wall near the doorway as Barry Fortune entered. The light had just barely missed his natty light navy pin-striped suit.

"Um, is this a bad time, Yas?" Barry's eyes were wide. The beams of sunlight flashed on top of his shiny, pink bald head. "We can come back. There's a blond kid out here from the LA Daily Star who's begging for an interview. I can kick him out, if you want."

"No." Yasmin smirked. "I think we could use that young man. Let him in, Barry."

"Sure, doll face." Barry stepped aside as Luke entered.

Leia wondered if her goofy brother swiped the elegant suit from Laurence's wardrobe. It was all black, from the tip of his fedora to his shiny oxfords. He looked more like he was going to a funeral than to an interview. His ever-present notebook and pencil stuck out of his pants pocket. Otherwise, no glimpse of her brother's usual laid-back attitude could be seen.

"Hello, Mrs. Hutt." Luke frowned when he saw his sister. "Is this how you greet all your guests?"

Yasmin's gave him her throaty chuckle. "Just the ones who annoy me."

"My name is Mr. Luke Skylark, reporter for the Daily Star." He shook her hand, but his eyes never left Leia. "I came here for an interview, but I suspect this may be a bad time."

"Not at all." Yasmin gave him that gleaming toothpaste smile again. "I have someone who, er, deals with reporters who feel the need to visit me." She nodded at Barry. "Go get Tony. He's my...public relations specialist."

Luke ignored her and took a chair as Barry Fortune ducked out the door. "So, Mrs. Hutt," he began as he whipped out his notebook, "witnesses at the Twin Suns Club last night claim you and two of your men were among the last to see Oola Twylar last night before she went off a cliff."

"Yes, we were. It's a terrible thing, what happened to that poor girl." She sighed. "But I don't see what we have to do with a showgirl who committed suicide."

"It does seem a little odd." Luke was scribbling furiously. "My boss and I have made several calls this morning. Everyone who knew her, including her roommates at the Anchorhead Arms Apartments and her fellow employees at the Twins Suns Club, liked her and are shocked at her death. They say she was bright, beautiful, and inquisitive, always asking questions."

"Yes, she was always asking questions. More than a few employees wondered if she was a reporter sniffing around for a story or a spy for the other nightclubs on the Sunset Strip." The beautiful blond gangster sighed. "You just can't get good help nowadays."

"Mrs. Hutt," Luke narrowed his eyes, "I want the full story. Rumors of your activities have been swirling around for years now, ever since your husband's time." He nodded at Leia. "You've been doing everything from peddling drugs to smuggling antiquities." The young man stood as he waved his hand at the Alderaanian artifacts behind him. "Even I can tell that those artifacts are the real thing. You're no professor or archaeologist. There's no way you could have gotten them legitimately. They'd cost a fortune."

Yasmin stood, her smile now forced and sharp. "You're just as much of a nuisance as your sister." The swarthy man with the thick dark mustache who came as she crooked her finger was the fattest creature Leia ever saw. He was more the size of a sumo wrestler than an average human being. His mud-brown suit threatened to pop off at any minute. "Oh Tony, I'd like you to take care of a little problem for me."

"Sure, Mrs. H," he grunted. Luke tried to make for the door, but he grabbed him by his collar. "Where should I take care-a him?" 

"Outside would be preferable, in the garden." She sighed. "Eliza will be upset if she has to clean another mess off the carpet like the last time you tossed out a reporter."

"Will do, Mrs. H." He got as far as the door with Luke before the young man aimed a solid kick at his knee. He let out a howl and dropped him. Luke stumbled briefly, just long enough for two of Yasmin's guards to make a grab at him. He squeezed between them, letting the duo run headlong into each other.

"I've got to get to Artie!" Luke leaped over two tropical floral couches, nearly tripping over a hassock as he darted to the sliding glass doors. "Maybe I can cut through the garden..."

"No, you don't." His nose made contact with a mountain, throwing him back and making him see stars. "You not goin' anywhere 'less I say so."

"Wait!" Luke put up a hand. "You're constricting the freedom of the press!"

"Uh," the mountain scratched it's chin, "I don't know what that mean." He made a grab at Luke again, but Luke ducked into the garden. "Hey, I can't throw you out if you out!"

Luke grinned as he scanned the garden, with it's elaborate rock work and towering palms and bougainvilleas. "Hey ugly, you're so dumb, you couldn't catch Mickey Mouse!"

"Oh yeah?" The big goon put up his fists, swinging them at Luke. "Watch me!"

Luke jumped away, trying to slow him down as he searched for the biggest rock he could lift. "Hey, lil' runt," the giant puffed, "stay still so I can smash ya!"

"No thank you." Luke just managed to wiggle his lithe body around his right fist. "I like my face where it is!" He hopped onto a bench, lifting the biggest rock he could over the man's head. Yasmin, three of her bodyguards, and Barry Fortune arrived just in time to see him slam the rock down over the man's head. Barry Fortune had a squirming Leia by her arms.

"What did you do?" Yasmin glared at him as two of her men went to the massive goon's side. "Tony's my brother-in-law! If he's has a headache for the next week, I'll never hear the end of it from his wife."

Leia grinned ear to ear. "Nice work, brother."

The sibling in question was breathing hard, but he shared her grin. "Yeah, I guess I did do good work." He jumped off the bench and went right to Yasmin, but the other two goons grabbed him. "Is this how you treat every reporter who wants an interview with you, Mrs. Hutt?"

Yasmin's white teeth glinted in the soft late-morning sunlight. "Only the ones who annoy me."

One of the fat guards in green who held Luke fingered a gun with his other hand. "You want us to take care of these two troublemakers, boss?"

Yasmin rubbed her finger down Luke's chin, ignoring Leia lunging for her. "This one is rather cute. Maybe I'll keep him. After a session at with my favorite jewelry, of course." She finally turned to Barry Fortune, her smile making her look rather like a female shark on the prowl. "Mr. Fortune, we're going to do the ceremony again tonight. Perhaps the God doesn't mind having two sacrifices? There could be two gods, a god and a sister goddess, and they're hungry for the love of two attractive mortals like these."

Barry stroked Leia's arm, pulling away from her sharp kick. "I think she's too pretty to put under mind control."

"We'll find a use for her. I still need to question her about the locations of the other two swords." She ran her finger under Leia's chin, lifting it to her face. Her blue eyes were ice-cold, but her red smile was a flame in the pale sunlight. "And you will talk, Dr. Skylark, after the party is over. Oh yes, you will."

All of Hollywood came out that night for the debut of Yasmin Hutt's newest "ceremony." Leia was angry as heck. Not to mention under-dressed. The brick and sienna dance costumes, with their gold beaded straps, metal ornaments, and heavy plumed headgear, had less to do with real Alderaanian or Aztec ceremonies than with Hollywood Tarzan movies. Two bodyguards had been outside the door at all times, to make sure she didn't try to run. Luke was in the men's dressing room. She just hoped this "plan" he claimed to have really worked. Her brother wasn't known for being the most organized person on the planet. Until the last few weeks, she'd always been the one who made the plans.

"Charel! Luke?" Leia stepped out into the backstage area and into the busy main dining room, ignoring several whistles from the men at the tables. "Where are you?"

"Miss Leia?" Clarence came from the kitchen, his anxious reddish face almost glowing against his yellow suit. His brown eyes almost popped out of their sockets when he spied her dance costume. "Miss Leia, does your godmother know you're wearing that? That's indecent! It's barely beads and feathers!"

Leia tugged the beads further over her bosom, at least as much as she could get away with. "I don't like it either, but that's the costume. I don't have a choice." She frowned, trying to strain over heads to see a familiar handsome scoundrel. "Where's Harry? Not to mention Charel and the others."

"Well, I'm right here, kiddo." Artie came around in his white jacket, pushing a drink cart covered in a white damask tablecloth. "What'll it be? Whiskey? Bourbon? Thank god they passed Prohibition a few years ago and we can all drink real booze again. We're going to need it after tonight."

Clarence gaped at him. "What are you doing?"

"Serving drinks, Goldie." Artie shoved a shot glass under his nose. "Have some brandy. On the house. You look like you need it."

Clarence shoved it away. "I can see you're serving drinks, but this place is dangerous! Mrs. Hutt intends to execute Miss Leia and Mr. Luke tonight, and if we're not careful, it'll be our necks on the line next."

"Calm down, Goldie. You look like you're about ready to bust a gasket." His short friend patted the cart. "Luke n' me got it all under control. You go find Larry an' tell him we're ready to go as soon as the ceremony starts."

"I sure hope so." Leia made a face as two waiters openly ogled her scanty costume. "I'd better get backstage, before they miss me. Besides, the ceremony should start any minute."

Barry Fortune grabbed Clarence's arm. "Boss lady wants you to announce the ceremony. Something about her being busy with getting Solomon into his costume." He smirked knowingly. "Or lack thereof."

"Very well." Fortune returned to the orchestra as they finished the last note of "Thanks for the Memories." The drums started up again as Clarence addressed the crowd.

"Tonight, everyone," he began in his slightly pompous tones, "we have a treat for you. The gods are taking not just a bride, but a bride and a groom! We have two fortunate vict...virgins who will be given to our gods in a union of souls and a meeting of minds and hearts."

Leia came out with the dancers, trying to keep up with them and wave a fan that was almost bigger than she was. It wasn't easy. At least two of the other women gave her short kicks when she fell out of step. She was never going to think of all the dancing Eleanor Powell did in all her MGM musicals as "easy" ever again.

This time, Yasmin had two men with her on the litter. Leia drew in her breath in surprise when she saw Harry. He was likely dressed as Yasmin's idea of an Alderaanian slave, in little more than a beaded fringed loincloth with a gold collar around his neck. Yasmin, resplendent in her crystal beads and towering headdress, yanked him into her arms. The Sword of Wisdom glittered in a leather scabbard by her side. Luke sat on the other divan, his wrists chained behind his back. He wore a plain dark tunic, but his blue eyes, rather than being empty, showed angry fire.

Charel brought up the rear with the remaining dancers. He certainly looked the part of an Alderaanian warrior, with his deeply tanned skin and wild brown mane and beard. He wore a fake leopard skin pelt and loincloth with a leather bandoleer and an authentic-looking bow and quiver of arrows. He did not dance, despite being nudged several times. Roberto Fettara was with him, his leopard skin thrown over his regular suit, a very real gun pointed at his side.

Clarence joined Yasmin onstage as she lead Harry to her bamboo "throne" on his golden leash. Roberto pushed Harry down on silken pillows, close enough to Yasmin for her to absently stroke his head and scratch his ear like he was a puppy. His chain was tied to the arm of her throne so she could occasionally tug him closer and whisper what she planned to do with him that night in her ear. Harry tried to look vacant, but he couldn't hide how disgusted he was.

Luke didn't dance, either. He had no solo like Oola did. He was surprisingly calm as two of the male dancers removed the ropes around his wrists and dragged him to the "stone" table. Two more took Leia's arms. She let them, remembering what Luke had told her earlier that afternoon when they were locked in Yasmin's basement.

Yasmin gave her opening speech about this being the Kingdom of the Aztecs and the audience witnessing a "bridal" ceremony. "Today, the gods are most fortunate!" Her sneer at Luke made her resemble a savage blond warrior in a costume from a Dorothy Lamour jungle epic. "We have two mates for them, a sister and brother who have so pleased the gods that they wish to have them for their own!"

"Yasmin!" Luke yelled over the crowd. "You claim you are a warrior and a chief, but you are no leader! The gods favor the side of light, the righteous path, yet you seek to use their power for harm!" He pointed a tanned finger in her directions. "The gods will punish you, and all those who abuse the light!"

Leia rolled her eyes. Her brother could be the world's biggest ham sometimes, and he loved every minute of it. She used the distraction to inch closer to Yasmin's throne and the Sword of Wisdom, covering it up with a fluttering of her fan.

Yasmin was even less impressed. She merely yawned and tugged at Harry's gold chain, ignoring his glare. "I'm sure that the golds and I don't care about what some lesser being says."

"And now," the female gangster announced as Luke and Leia were dragged to the table, "the gods will come for their bride and groom." She tugged the Sword out of the scabbard and began waving it around Luke's eyes. "For the groom is going to become very sleepy." She looked up as she pulled the sword up to the audience's level. "Perhaps, so will all of you. Why don't you all take a look at the Sword..."

"No!" Leia managed to pull away from the men long enough to give Yasmin a sharp kick in her right shin. She wailed and dropped the Sword on the floor, under the table. Luke leaped from the table, which was the signal Artie had been waiting for. He delicately pulled the Sword of Light out from under the drink cart and tossed it to Luke, then shoved it aside and hurried to help Harry get the gold collar off his neck.

"You bitch!" Yasmin grabbed at Leia's throat as the audience cheered. "You ruined my plan!"

Leia tried to shove her away and focus enough to make the Sword come to her at the same time. "Putting everyone under mind control, so you can swipe their valuables and force them into unwanted deals. What were you planning for an encore, forcing them to kneel and kiss your feet?"

"Not a bad idea, but no." Yasmin elbowed Leia hard in her side. She rolled away, gasping, as Yasmin grabbed the Sword. Leia could see Luke cutting through the plywood staffs that were the closest things to weapons the dancers had, even as Yasmin held the Sword to her neck. "Call off that mongrel brother of yours and get back on that table, before I slice you in half, or regress you so far back into childhood, you'll be in the womb."

Leia didn't even have the time to get to her feet. A big, hairy fist slammed over Yasmin's head, knocking her to the floor. Charel stood behind her, looking every inch the savage native warrior of Hollywood jungle epics in his spotted pelt and bandoleer.

"Nice shot, Char." Harry stood next to him, now wearing a white shirt with his loincloth. He and his navigator yanked Yasmin back on her feet by her arms. "You thought you could treat me like some lap dog, didn't you, lady? I just sent Artie to call the cops and a couple of friends of ours. It's over. I'm not your pet, I'm not your plaything, and I'm not your employee anymore, either. Consider our working relationship ended. In other words, I quit!" Charel growled his agreement.

Yasmin sneered at him. "You still owe me money, darling."

"I'll take care of that." Leia held up the Sword of Wisdom at her neck. Luke backed into her, trying to hold off four dancers and Yasmin's pig guards. "Harry...uh, Warrior, go see if you can find Laurenz, your fellow, er, fighter, and head off the evil Robertar of the Fett tribe." She nudged him. "In other words, go find Larry and Roberto Fettara, before Fettara skips town."

"Sure, sweetheart." He gave her a passionate kiss onstage that encouraged more than a few whistles and made her tingle to the tips of her toes. Charel grabbed two of the dancers before they could get Harry, who hurried offstage, pushing through the crowds.

"It's over, evil sorceress," Leia hissed. "You'll never again cast your foul spells upon this tribe." Charel wrestled with four of the guards, while Luke managed to knock the remaining dancers off the stage and into the crowd. Everyone was cheering like crazy, thinking it was all part of the act. "You were planning to place everyone in the room...tribe under your spell as well, weren't you?" 

"Of course." Yasmin gazed down the flat, crystal-studded blade. "Could you put that thing down, please? I'd rather have crystals around my neck than in them."

Leia pushed close to her, so the audience couldn't hear. "Not until you sell that illegal collection of yours to legitimate museums, where real people will be able to see and learn from them, not just some floozy."

"Floozy!" Yasmin lunged for her, grabbing at the Sword. "I'll show you a floozy! Sword, erase her mind!" 

"No!" Leia struggled, trying to yank it away. "It wants me! You can't control it!"

The dim greenish light that had been gathering as they fought flowed around her, but it would not touch her. "Sword," she screamed, "I command you to do as I tell you! Kill Dr...the slave girl and bring her brother and warrior lover to me!"

"Um," Luke started backing away as the light grew brighter and wavier, "I really think you girls should, um, put that down. It's not looking so good."

"Yeah, doll." Barry Fortune pulled next to him as the light seemed to distort and bubble around them. "There's something going on with that over-sized knife, and I don't think it's a special effect."

"NO!" Yasmin tried to pull away, but the light seemed to wrap around her neck, then pulling down. "I can't...this is mine...could take over...so many deals..."

"No, Hutt." Leia held the sword over her head, her voice of a much deeper timbre than usual. The audience almost fell over themselves at the spectacle. "This magic was not and has never been yours. It is for those who seek to aid mankind, not to gain profit for themselves. You are not worthy of the Sword or the tribe of Alderaan!"

Yasmin choked, her tongue flopping out as Leia yanked the Sword and the sparkling light throttled her delicate neck. Luke held Barry back with his sword, holding it up to his neck. The audience gasped and clapped as the light surrounded them and became too bright for anyone to see. When the light vanished, nothing but dust, feathers, and tiny gold beads lay on the floor where Yasmin had been.

"Oh..." Leia's gasped as the audience cheered. "Oh, my god...it...the Sword...Luke, did you see..."

Her brother put his hand on her shoulder, his own face the color of the ashes on the floor. "I saw, sis. I don't like it, but there's nothing we can do for her now. Come on. Let's go help Harry and see if Artie's arrived with the police." They pushed through a wildly applauding audience and the remaining goons who were gaping at the stage and the remains of their bosses. Two poked around in the ashes with their toes, muttering that the Boss Lady never told them she could do that.

They emerged in the gold and sienna sunburst lobby just in time to see Harry's fist knock Roberto Fettara across the room. He smashed into one of the glittering sunbursts with a noisy thud. Charel grabbed him by his pelt as Harry helped Laurence to his feet. "Sorry I couldn't get out here sooner. We were busy inside."

Laurence rubbed the back of his neck. "That's all right. You came at just the right time. Ol' Bobert there," he nodded at Fettara, "was going to fill me with lead and turn me over to Yasmin for fun."

"Trust me, you don't want to do that. Despite what you may have heard, Yasmin is not a fun woman." Harry smirked and rolled up the sleeve of his shirt. "On one hand, I do owe you for helping the kids and the others to rescue me. On the other hand, were the one who got me into this mess in the first place..."

"Harry, no! We're friends!" Laurence didn't duck quick enough. Harry's uppercut knocked him on the other side of the room with Fettara, just as Artie barged in the doors with Yoda, Agent Rieekien, and almost every officer he could grab on the Sunset Strip that night.

"Done well, you have." Yoda looked around as the cops cuffed Fettara and hauled him away. "Told me you stopped the show, Arthur did."

"You might say that." Leia frowned. "Dr. Chiang, I, er, killed a woman. Or I suppose you might say the swords did. It was like the Force was commanding me. It didn't like what she was doing any more than I did."

"Yasmin Hutt is dust on the floor." Luke croaked, his voice barely a whisper. "We didn't know it would do that!"

"Threatened you, she did. Always remembers, the Force does." Yoda shook his head. "When the sword you wield, one with it, you become. The more you hold the Swords, the closer you bond with its powers."

"How about we discuss this elsewhere?" Harry made a face. "First of all, my legs are cold. I want to get into pants. Second, I'd like to put some distance between us and what used to be Yasmin, before the cops start to ask questions we can't answer."

"I don't know." Leia managed to give him a grin. "I like your legs like that. You have good legs."

Harry rolled his eyes as Artie snickered and Charel went to a moaning Laurence. "I have skinny legs."

Artie looked up as he, Charel, and Laurence joined the group. "Hey, where's Clarence? I haven't seen him since he announced the show."

"In there somewhere, he must be." Yoda opened the doors as the police went to question the audience and Lieutenant Madine reassured everyone that everything was fine. "Force-sensitive, he is not. Disappear into thin air, he cannot."

As it turned out, Clarence was pretty easy to find. Artie and Luke discovered him under a table, the bottles from the drink cart surrounding him. His gold suit reeked of brandy and rum. "Is it over yet," he slurred as he looked up from a bottle of brandy.

"It's over." Artie smirked. "We won, of course. Yasmin's history."

"Oh, that's good." Clarence rolled over, pulled the soft yellow tablecloth over his knees, and closed his eyes. "Wake me when the show's over."

Artie and Luke just sighed, reached under the table, and dragged their friend out as the police swarmed around the room and Yasmin's pig goons continued to poke at the remains of the ambitious woman racketeer.

After spending nearly a day in talks with Agent Rieekian and Lieutenant Madine of Los Angeles Police, they all managed to come up with the story that Yasmin was fried to death by faulty wiring in her special effects. Leia didn't think it was believable, but it was they best they could do to explain her bizarre death. Roberto Fettara and Barry Fortune were charged with a long list of infractions that ranged from smuggling to industrial sabotage to first-degree murder. Leia offered to sort through Yasmin's collection and make sure it went to respectable museums when she returned from Guatemala.

She, Harry, Laurence, Charel, and Clarence met with Dr. Mothma, Admiral Ackbar, and Lieutenant Madine at the meeting room in Royce Hall three days later. Madine shook Leia's hand. "We owe all of you a lot in capturing those gangsters. There's a reward for bringing in Fettara alive. I would be more than happy to give it to all of you to share."

"You can donate my share to UCLA to fund our expedition to Guatemala." Leia sat down at the round table, between Harry and Laurence. Harry looked rather dashing in his gray suit and battered brown fedora, almost as dapper as his friend. Even Charel had managed to find a clean shirt and tie. Clarence wore his usual yellow suit and was still moaning about the last remnants of his hangover. "My crew and I would like to leave for Guatemala as soon as possible. We've lost enough time as it is dealing with Mrs. Hutt and retrieving Captain Solomon."

Dr. Mothma nodded. "We've received word that Chancellor Palpatine made a critical error. The time for our own expedition to leave has come. Vader and his men are in Guatemala as we speak, but they left most of their own police force in Coruscant to deal with the ongoing rebel attacks there and are relatively unprotected by local law enforcement. The Chancellor himself has joined the expedition to personally oversee the workers with Vader."

Admiral Ackbar was a big, ruddy man in an ancient suit that smelled faintly of mothballs. His reddish pallor and the way his mouth hung open slightly made him resemble a squid. "Mr. Calarissian and Captain Wedge Antilles of England have volunteered to lead the group that will be bringing the supplies and acting as cover. The rest of you will go with Dr. Skylark and her group to the site."

"Good luck." Harry smirked at his old friend. "You're gonna need it."

He nodded at the red-headed man in the navy uniform of the Los Angeles Police Department standing next to him. "Lieutenant Matt Madine."

"You'll be using a delivery truck confiscated from a former crime lord whose main base was Guatemala, but died in a shoot-out here in the States." He tapped a map hanging on the wall behind them. "The site where Coruscant is digging is heavily guarded and off-limits to most outsiders, but we may be able to pass you all off as locals or workers well enough to gain entry."

"How do you plan on pulling that off?" Leia frowned. "They know most of us on sight."

"Captain Antilles has supplied Coruscant uniforms confiscated by his unit in Europe." Madine turned to Harry. "Captain Solomon, is your team ready?"

Leia looked at him in surprise as he grinned. "Just about. I need a crew to go along with me and Dr. Skylark to unload the supplies and help with digging."

Charel grabbed his arm and let out a stream of excited Russian. "That's going to be rough, old friend. I didn't want to speak for you." Harry shrugged and turned to Madine. "That's one."

Leia patted his back with the hand covered by black cotton gloves. "I'm just glad you're with me."

"Well, Char and I are out of work at the moment." The pilot gave her that familiar little grin. "Who knows? It might be fun to wander around old monuments and play Jungle Jim. At least it'll be legitimate money, and you'll get some nice pieces of bric-a-brac for the living room."

"I'm with you too!" Everyone looked up as Luke came in, followed by Artie and Yoda. Artie and Luke sported dark suits and looked fairly sober. "I just got my newest assignment from my boss, Miss Ahsoka Tano. I'm supposed to shadow you on your expedition and write about all the lurid details." He pulled a card out of his wallet. "Here's my press pass, Dr. Mothma."

"We're with you all the way!" Artie waved his own hand and raised Clarence's before he could sputter a feeble protest.

"Dr. Mothma, a pleasure to see you, it is." Yoda, dressed in a light blue striped suit that went well with his greenish skin, waddled up to the lady and kissed her hand. "Last time I saw you, it was 1922. Just starting in the department, you were. Knew you would get far. Gumption, you had, and grit. Yes, much gumption."

"I thought you were dead, you old reprobate." The red-headed professor chuckled. "It's nice to see you again. You really should come up and visit us more often."

"Retired, I was." He nodded at Luke. "Came out to help young Mr. Skylark and Dr. Skylark translate the maps and writings at Alderaanian temples, I have. Good for these bones to get out and stretch."

"All right, enough slobbering." Dr. Mothma turned to address the group. "You'll be leaving on the San Diegan train line at 7 AM the day after tomorrow. You'll have the time to work on gathering the remaining supplies and hiring crew members. Any questions?" No one said anything. "Then good luck!" The older red-head gave them a small grin. "And as the Alderaanians once said, may the Force be with you!"

Artie gave Clarence such a huge hug, he actually lifted him into the air. "Ain't this exciting, Goldie? We're goin' on a treasure hunt, like in the movies! Maybe we'll meet head hunters, or Tarzan or something!"

"Exciting," gasped Clarence, "is hardly the word I'd choose!"

"Take her!" Harry waved his hand at the Silver Falcon, which reclined in it's usual rusted hanger back at Maz's Air Field. "I want you to take her! You'll need all the help you can get. She's faster than anything the Empire has."

"All right, old buddy!" Laurence laughed. "You know I've driven her before. I'll take good care of her. She won't get a scratch." He smirked a little. "In fact, I'll treat her better than you would. I seem to remember what kind of shape she was in the first time I let you drive her. There was barely anything left of her hull when we made it to that little silver mine in Mexico."

Harry chuckled. "I remember that. That was when your girl Leslie decided her purpose in life was to start a revolution and freed all the workers at the mine, even the ones who wanted to be there. Wish she hadn't been shot fleeing the mine. She was something else."

Laurence's face fell at the mention of Leslie. "I still miss her. She was a good woman. Feisty as hell. Spent most of the day lecturing anyone who would listen on the rights of women, Negros, Hispanics, and anyone else she thought was being persecuted. She was a looker, though, and a real demon in bed." He rubbed the Falcon's shiny silver wing. "I wonder if Charel is right about her spirit being in the controls. There's just something about this old girl..."

"Wouldn't surprise me." Harry grinned. "Would explain why the controls of this tub seem to have a mind of their own sometimes. Hey," he added, "are you still writing that memoir of yours?"

"Writing?" Laurence snorted. "I finished it a year ago. I'm looking for a publisher. By the way," he added as he started loading his luggage into the cockpit, "what happened with Clara? You never did tell me why you two broke it off."

Harry looked away from his friend. Clara was still a bit of a sore spot with him. "She stayed with her boss. Some mysterious big-shot mobster from Budapest. Haven't heard from her since then. Probably married him, or killed him, or both."

"She was a lot like Leia, wasn't she? Even kind of looked like her." Laurence put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "She's not exactly like her, though. Clara was ambitious, but she was also ruthless. She'd do anything to get ahead. Even I could tell that. Leia...yeah, she wants to get ahead, but she also cares about the people in her life. She'd no more sooner cut you out than she would cut out her own heart."

"Yeah." Harry shook his head, then turned on a smaller version of the famous smirk. "You be careful, buddy, ok?"

"You too." Laurence grinned. "Good luck!"

Harry just gave him the smirk as he headed for Maz's Bar. "Hey, don't worry, buddy. My luck hasn't run out on me yet."

Two days later, they were on the Atcheson, Topeka, and Santa Fe's brand-new San Diegoan train, on it's way across Southern California's sandy shores. She settled down in a seat near the window, admiring the view of cities and small shore towns as they flew past. She'd just pulled the remaining papers out of a folder in her purse when her brother plopped down next to her.

"Hey, sis." Luke leaned over her shoulder, admiring the lapping turquoise waters beyond their vehicle. "This is some view, huh?"

"Luke," Leia began, "I was really hoping to get some work done. Actually, I wanted to talk to your Professor Chiang about his translations of the reliefs at the Jedi Temple. Some of them are a little blurred in Papa Bail's photos."

As if by magic, Yoda himself appeared at her arm. "Wished to see me, you did, Dr. Skylark? Looking forward to talking to you, I am."

Luke asked the questions first before she could even open her mouth. "Did you know Vader is our father?"

Yoda made a face. "Perhaps, start with the translations first, we should..."

Leia glared at him. "Answer my brother's question. Did you know Vader and Dr. Andrew Skylark are apparently the same person?"

Yoda finally sighed, his weathered face looking beaten. "Your father, he is. Told you, did he?" The anger on Leia's face and disappointment on Luke's answered his question. "Unfortunate, it is..."

The twins both glared at him. "Unfortunate that we know the truth?" Luke snapped.

"Unfortunate that, incomplete is your training. Not ready for the burden were either of you." Yoda sighed. "Ben and Arthur would have told you years ago, had I let them. We did not wish for Vader to come after you. Wanted you to live normal lives, your mother did."

"No one ever told us anything!" Leia burst out so angrily, people in the seats around her stared. She quickly went on in a more controlled tone. "Uncle Owen said he died on some expedition that went wrong. Papa Bail and Mama Breha won't talk about him at all. Did you all think we wouldn't be able to handle it?" 

"A dangerous man, Vader is." Yoda sighed. "Feared he would think you both a threat."

"I'm just glad you didn't try to separate us." Luke put an arm around his sister. "I don't know what I'd do without her here to get me out of trouble."

"You wouldn't know what to do." Leia smirked. "You probably would have been in jail or floating face-down in a creek ages ago."

"You're one to talk." Luke nudged her playfully. "You pick a fight with everyone possible and do not know the meaning of the word 'no.'"

"Children, please." Yoda rolled his eyes. "Important, this is. Your father, you both must face. Destiny, it is."

"I don't give a rat's ass about destiny," the young woman snarled. "I don't want anything to do with that man ever again. If he tries to attack my dig site, I will kill him on the spot."

"Leia, please!" Luke groaned. "He's our father! What if we can change his mind?"

"Luke, he's a monster!" People stared as she raised her voice again. She had to go on more quietly. "What part of 'he almost killed us and sold Harry to some crazy gangster lady' don't you understand?"

"I love Aunt Bertha and Uncle Owen," Luke began, "but Leia...haven't you ever wondered what it would be like to have real parents?" 

"We do." Leia glared at him. "Papa Bail and Mama Breha helped pay for college and took us to digs and taught us how to think and run and dream, and Uncle Owen and Aunt Bertha fed us and changed us and took care of us when we were sick or hurt. They were our real guardians, Luke. Vader was NOT there! He didn't even care!"

Luke's blue eyes widened. "Leia, he's still your father. Mine too. There's blood there."

"And it'll be on the floor if he tries attacking us again." Leia's gaze lowered to her glove-covered hands. "This hurt, Luke. I broke the stitches on it when I grappled with Yasmin. I had to get it re-stitched and re-wrapped. My fingers are still stiff. It's like it's made of metal now." She bit her lip. "Like him. I'm just like him."

"No!" Luke leaned over and rubbed her shoulder. "Sis, don't think like that! You're nothing like him. You wouldn't abandon us or kill people over a theory."

"People have killed over smaller things." She stared at her gloved hand. "If we encounter him again, Luke, and he tries to hurt one of us...I don't know if I'll be responsible for what happens. Especially if I have...well, that power with me." Leia sighed and pushed the papers at Yoda. "Why don't we work on translating Papa Bail's papers? I really don't understand what he means in the first couple of pages."

Yoda nodded, but the stubborn set of his chin indicated that the conversation about Vader was far from over. He pressed his shriveled finger against the tattered papers. "Yes...yes. The temples, sacred, they are. Only the Guardians and the Jedi are said to have been permitted to enter. Temples were for training Jedi and chosen Guardians. All those who were not worthy of the Force, not permitted, they were."

"I figured that part out." Leia followed along, pointing at one paper filled with Papa Bail's messy handwriting and a diagram of the temples. "What I don't understand is what these are."

Yoda placed a pair of tiny gold-rimmed spectacles on his pug nose. "Traps, they are." The little professor squinted over the faint writing. "Can't make out all of it, but it mentions rocks that fall, and water that flows backward. Traps are to prove true worth of Guardians and Jedi. Those who are worthy may pass. Only those who know the Force will be able to solve the mysteries."

"Traps?" Luke grinned. "Like the serials or something?"

"That's ridiculous." Leia made a face. "I believe there's traps of some kind. If I were the Alderaanians, I wouldn't want tourists and peasants invading my temple, either. I doubt the Force has anything to do with it. They're probably falling boulders and spike traps. They loved those."

Luke looked disappointed. "Aw, I was hoping for magic! I guess," he went on with a sigh, "that would be more believable for my readers than some hocus-pocus."

"More to it than mere hocus-pocus, there is." Yoda lifted his quivering chin. "Force, all around us, it is. Those who can access it have power beyond mere human knowledge." His tiny smiled dropped. "Saw what happened when it is used for evil. Power can't be controlled by ordinary humans. Bit off more than she could chew, Mrs. Hutt did."

Leia frowned. "And it came back and bit her." They all looked up as a shrill train whistle was heard over the sound of the steam engine pulling into the station. "I think that's our stop." The archaeologist gathered the papers into the folder and tucked it into her purse. "Let's go round up the others and our equipment and see if we can beat Vader at his own game."

She ran into Harry as she gathered her suitcase from the overhead rack. "What was all that talk about, sweetheart?"

"Nothing. Just business talk." She smirked. "At least I didn't spend the trip playing poker with Charel and Artie."

Harry's little grin came out in full-force. "Hey, I won ten bucks off those two." He took her arm. "Shall we, oh great and wise Guardian of Wisdom?"

"Keep calling me that, and I might get to almost enjoy it." Leia took his arm. "We shall."

Three days later, Leia found herself sitting with Luke, Clarence, Artie, Yoda, and their equipment in the back of a rickety old truck that looked like it had last been driven sometime in 1919. The owner, a Spanish man who was almost older than Yoda and his truck, swore it was trustworthy. It was so trustworthy, Harry took twenty minutes fixing the engine to get it to work and had to give it sharp kicks twice when it got stuck in ditches along the mud-clogged roads. Sharp shrieks and small eyes followed them as they bumped down the road.

There wasn't much chance to talk as they bumped along the rutted mud that the Guatmalans called a road. She was just plain tired. They'd switched trains at the border of California and Mexico, and then at Mexico City. They'd had to abandon the train all together at Guatemala City. It didn't go anywhere near their dig site. She wouldn't have paid such an outrageous amount that old man, but she was in a hurry. She didn't want to even imagine what Vader and Palpatine were doing to the Alderaanian temples.

"Everyone in their uniforms?" Harry pulled his Coruscant officer's cap low over his eyes as he pulled in at the gate around the temple site. It was guarded by Coruscant guards in gray and white. Admiral Piett himself stood attention at the gate's booth.

"Now we find out if these uniforms are worth the price we paid," Leia grumbled as she tucked her hair under another stiff gray military hat.

Harry tried to give her one of his usual half-grins, but it was strained. "It'll work."

Luke gulped and turned pale under his cap when he saw the flutter of a long black coat. "Vader's out there."

"Don't get jittery, kid." Harry turned towards the gate. "There's a lot of guys who wear long jackets."

Clarence raised an eyebrow as he mopped his neck in his heavy gray blazer. "In this heat? He'd roast to death before he could unearth more than a few pebbles!"

"Leia and I are endangering everything," Luke moaned. "Maybe I should have come. Leia can avoid them, stay at her dig. Miss Tano could have sent someone else..."

"Worry you should not," Yoda assured him. He was under a blanket, since they couldn't find a suit that close to fit him. "Get past them, we will."

Charel's uniform barely fit him. In fact, one of the buttons popped off and almost took out Harry's eye as he turned to ask him a long question. "Careful, buddy. And keep your distance from Vader, but don't look like you're keeping your distance." He made a face at his co-pilot's stream of worried Russian. "I don't know! Drive casual!"

"Sir," Piett asked Harry as he pulled up to the gate. "What are you carrying in this...vehicle?"

"Parts and equipment for the dig at the Temple of the Guardians." Harry tried to give him a winning smile. He handed him the entrance papers and hoped that he hadn't gotten too good of a look at him back in Coruscant.

Vader stepped up to the booth. Luke turned stark white; Leia's breath quickened. "Piett, do they have the code clearance?"

"It's an older code, but it checks out. I was about to clear them."

"I shouldn't be here," Luke choked under his breath. "Leia shouldn't be here. They're going to catch us." His sister kicked his shin lightly. His panic attack was not only not going to help anybody, but would give them away.

Piett finally nodded. "Looks like everything's in order. Carry on."

Harry saluted them. "Yes, sir!" He grinned at the others as the truck pulled through. "See? I told you we could do it!"

Leia had her own doubts, but not about the expedition. If anything, she was more determined than ever to find the final sword and stick it to Vader, preferably somewhere personal. She was worried about her brother. Luke had been shaking like a leaf ever since they'd gone through the gate. He did seem to calm down a bit as they drove through the camp and up into the mountains and through the jungles, even with the occasional howl from the trees.

"We're going to have to get off here." Harry finally pulled over by the edge of a gorge mostly surrounded by dense jungle. "We're not going to get much further in this old thing." He kicked the tire as the engine started to smoke. He and Charel leaned in the hood, trying to figure out what went wrong.

"I think everyone can ditch the uniforms." Leia pulled off her jacket. "For one thing, it's too hot for them."

Artie had already divested himself of his jacket and tie and had rolled up his shirtsleeves. "I think it's pretty here. I can see why the Alderaanians would want to make this their home base." He ran to the edge of the gorge, taking in the sweeping views. "This is amazing! You can see everything! The Temples, the Imperial camp, even some of the city..."

Clarence joined him briefly at the edge, only to reel back. "How can you stand so close? It makes one dizzy."

"You're such a baby." The shorter man took a deep sniff. "Smell that air! There's real earth in that."

Clarence took a deep sniff and coughed heavily. "All I smell is mildew and slightly rotten vegetation."

"We'll set up camp here." Harry took one last whack at the wheels with his heavily booted toe. "Not that we have a choice. This thing won't be going anywhere for a few centuries. We'll have to walk back to the Temples."

"And go right through the Imperials?" Leia made a face. "There must be another way."

Luke shivered. "I don't like this. I think we're being watched."

Harry was helping Charel to pull out the tents. "We're in the jungle. There's a lot of things watching us around here." He winced at yet another noisy howl. "Not to mention whatever's been yellin' ever since we came."

"Guys!" Artie waved his hands. "Over here!" He frowned as the bushes nearby rustled. "I think we've been spotted."

"Oh no." Leia ducked down behind a tree as five of Vader's men on motorcycles roared into the next clearing. She'd recognize those white jackets and dark helmets anywhere. "How are we going to get rid of them?"

Harry nodded at the bushes. "We'll take care of this. Char and I have gotten out of worse scrapes." Charel added his own Russian affirmation.

"Quietly, you two!" Luke scolded. "There might be more of them."

Harry gave them the famous half-grin. "Hey, it's me."

Yoda shook his head as they tip-toed towards the goons. "Egotistical, they are. In trouble, they will be. Known for stealth, they are not."

Artie snorted. "No kidding, old man."

They were, of course, right. Harry went two steps before a twig cracked underfoot. One of the men slammed him across the chin before he could move. Charel managed to take out another with his big rifle, but the remaining three took off on their cycles.

"Leia!" She ignored her brother's worried bleating and leaped onto a motorcycle. "At least let me go with you." His slender and warm frame settled behind her. "Do you even know how to drive one of these things?"

His sister shrugged. "How hard could it be to figure it out?"

They dodged through the jungle, riding around trees and over logs. Leia managed to shoot one man off his cycle, giving Luke the chance to take the vehicle for himself. "Keep on that one, sis." He turned it around. "I'll take the other two."

"Right." Leia zoomed past trees and vines, the leaves and branches crunching underfoot. Three times she almost fell off the darn thing. It was going much faster than she'd anticipated. She was surprised that she hadn't run into a tree. They always seemed to come out of nowhere, and she'd just barely avoid them. Monkeys leaned over and tried to grab at her hair.

She lead one to run into a tree, but the other was a better rider and harder to catch. His bullet almost caught her on the shoulder. Her own gun got him in the leg, distracting him enough to run off a cliff. Unfortunately, it also distracted her. The massive palm tree, with its roots spreading in every direction, suddenly loomed in her vision. She leaped off just as the vehicle ran head-long into the trunk, smashing to bits. Leia landed in a soft pile of leaves behind a rock...and that was all she could remember before she passed out.

Something sharp poked at her. It was long and thin. She presumed it was a twig and tried to brush it away. At least that didn't hurt too badly. She slowly moved her other hand. The chattering behind her picked up an octave as another sharp object poked around her arm.

She'd had quite enough. "Would you cut that out?" She rolled over and sat up...and found herself staring into a pair of large brown eyes and a soft gray monkey face. He really looked more like a small gorilla with longer arms than a monkey. She suspected he was a younger monkey. His arms weren't as fully-formed and his face wasn't as full as the howlers she'd seen in the San Diego Zoo.

Leia sighed and looked around. "Well, looks like I'm stuck here. I just wish I knew where 'here' was. Maybe you can help me." She patted the log next to her. "Here."

The little monkey still seemed skittish, nudging her and sniffing at her. "Want something to eat?" She was so glad she'd snitched a few crackers when they stopped to make camp. The little monkey sniffed at the food eagerly. He finally climbed up next to her and snatched the crackers, cramming them into his mouth. "You're a jittery little fellow, aren't you?"

He let out an ear-splitting howl when she pulled off her motorcycle helmet. "Whoa!" She threw her hands over her ears. "It's just a hat! It won't hurt you."

The monkey picked up the hat when she handed it to him. She had to chuckle as he inspected it from all sides. He even got it on his head and pulled down the visor, trying to imitate the sounds he'd likely heard from the motorcycles earlier.

He was chewing on the cords that held them on when he suddenly looked up and howled. Leia frowned. She'd heard something rustling in the leaves, too. "What is it?"

A gunshot answered her question. She shot into the brush while her little friend dumped the helmet and hid under the log. A human hand grabbed at hers before she could shoot again. "Well, what's this?" The face under the white motorcycle helmet smirked unpleasantly. Another man in white came up behind them. "I think this is the girl Mr. Vader was talking about. Go get your bike. We'll take her back to the camp."

Leia jumped back as a howl wailed from under the log. Her new friend scrabbled out and leaped onto the soldier, grabbing at his ears and trying to get his helmet. The distraction gave Leia a chance to knock him over and get him on the ground. She shot the other man's tires. He spun out, knocking himself out against a tree.

"Let's get out of here." The howler monkey climbed up onto Leia's shoulder. "I think I'd better find the others, before Vader's boys find them."

As it turned out, someone else got there ahead of them. Leia could hear the howling – human and monkey – from a mile off. "I'm assuming your relatives decided to make themselves at home at our camp." Leia sighed as the monkey scrambled onto her shoulder. "How about I get my men away from them, before your relatives get shot, and you tell your family that our camp isn't their new home?" The little monkey seemed to consider that before nodding and squeaking in her ear. "Good. Let's go."

Harry was trying to head off two monkeys with a frying pan as she arrived with her new friends. Two others hung off his legs, reaching for his guns. Charel fought with them for a hunk of beef he'd been roasting. Luke was on the ground as they scrambled over him. Artie tried to swat them away, but for every one he pushed off him, two more would replace him. Monkeys howled as they opened crates, ate bananas and dried meat, inspected their equipment, and tried on her drawers.

"What's going on over here?" She stomped over to Clarence, who seemed to be having a rather animated conversation with one of the monkeys. "Why aren't they after you?"

As Clarence stretched to his full height, the monkey climbed onto his shoulder and nuzzled him. "I'm fluent in sixty forms of communication, including some animal. I've studied the howler monkeys of Central America, including the golden-back variety. They're really very intelligent creatures, but they're also quite curious. They're worried that we'll harm them or hunt them, like those nasty Imperials down in the valley have been doing for weeks."

Her little friend chittered in her ear, his high-pitched screech as annoyed as she felt. "Clarence, please tell them that we're not like the Imperials. We're here for knowledge, not to do any hunting."

The tall secretary leaned over and gave the largest of the monkeys a series of howls that were almost louder than theirs. The monkey answered with his own long howl, pointing at the trees. He tugged at Clarence's hair.

"I'm not accustomed to conversing with non-humans," Clarence admitted when he pulled up again. "They seem to be using a very primitive dialect, for a howler monkey, but they think I'm their equivalent of a God."

Harry ignored Artie, Luke, and Charel laughing behind him. "Great! You can use that divine influence of yours and tell them to scram."

"I'm sorry, Captain Solomon," the secretary fussed importantly, "but that wouldn't be proper."

Leia was worried that the Captain would reach over and pop him in the nose. "PROPER?"

Clarence did step back a bit at the force of Harry's word, but he still continued. "I'm afraid it's against my job description to play a religious figure for monkeys."

"Why, you..." Every monkey in the place ran in front of Harry the moment he lunged for Clarence. "Why you...er, God-like secretary, you. Uh, yeah." He finally just shrugged. "He's an, er, old friend of mine."

Luke, Artie, and Charel were literally rolling on the ground in laughter. The noise finally brought Yoda out of his tent. "Young Skylark, what is all this about? Howling, I hear. Monkeys should be in trees, not in camp. Busy, I am. Must translate remaining notes. Need the noise, I do not."

"Professor," Leia began, "the Imperials got these monkeys riled up, and we don't know how to get rid of them."

"Get rid of them, I can. Or we can." Yoda tugged on Luke's sleeve and whispered something into his ear as he leaned down.

Luke nodded. "That might work." He and Yoda closed their eyes and lifted their hands. Within seconds, two soft green lights flowed under Clarence and lifted him into the air like a floating pillow.

"Help! Help!" Clarence wailed and waved his hands, looking very much like an agitated golden goose. "Arthur! Mr. Luke! Please let me down! I hate heights! Oh, stop!" The monkeys let rip with banshee screeches and fled away, hiding in trees or behind crates, pointing and chittering at the suddenly "flying" god.

Leia knew what the elderly professor and her brother had in mind. She gently took her little friend's arm before he could run. "You tell your friends and family to leave us and our camp alone," she snapped, "and we'll tell the God to lower himself and not unleash his great magic."

"Wait!" Harry rushed over, pushing another monkey off his leg. "I have a better idea. These little buggers don't like the Imperials any more than we do. Why don't we use them?"

"Use them?" Leia raised an eyebrow. "How?"

Harry leaned over the largest monkey. "Let's make a truce." He winked at Clarence, but he was really looking at Luke, who was starting to sweat with the effort of holding the secretary in the air. "Hey Mr. God, I think you can come down from there now. They have the idea."

The green light vanished as quickly as it appeared. Clarence flopped rather inelegantly in a pile of soft moss. "Thank heavens!" He hugged the ground like a child. "I'm never leaving the ground again. I didn't think I had it in me to fly!"

"Tell them we want to make a truce." Harry gave Clarence one of his famous half-smirks. "We'll keep the Imperials from hunting them, if they'll do a little something for us."

Leia scratched her new friend's back as Clarence howled softly, encouraging the monkeys to come out of the trees. "What did you have in mind?" She grinned at her heavily sweating brother. "And thanks, Luke. You too, Yoda. That was some good Force work there."

Luke was wiping his heavily perspiring brow. "No sweat, sis."

Yoda grinned, showing all three teeth he had left. "Tell your secretary, you should not. Needs the confidence, he does. Let him think he did it. Makes him happy."

"And there aren't many things that make him happy." Artie laughed as he watched his best friend howl back and forth with the long-armed furballs. "Let him have this much."

Harry joined Clarence in the circle of fur and arms. "Clarence, we were wondering how to get into the Imperial dig site undetected." He waved his hands at the monkeys. "Here's our ticket in. If they can do that to our camp, imagine what they can do to the Imperials. Get back at them for hurtin' their friends." He nudged Clarence's arm as he addressed them. "And tell them to leave our weapons alone. Just attack the Imperials' stuff. They don't need them."

He smirked and nudge Clarence as he began again. "Hurry up, will ya? We don't got all day." Now everyone was laughing as the flustered secretary tried to relay everything to his rapt monkey audience.

Leia never thought she'd be following monkeys, but the critters seemed to know what they were doing. The next day, they hiked back to the camp, with a pack of the howler monkeys leading the way. The largest one, whom Leia suspected was the group leader, brought them to a shady, heavily wooded area around the back of the largest temple. Five men, three with motorcycles, guarded the back entrance. Voices, including one familiar mechanical hiss, and the sounds of hammers and ringing steel cutting into stone carried from around the front of the magnificent rock edifice.

Like most of the ancient civilizations of Central America, the Alderaanians built stone temples as shrines to their gods and their warriors. Unlike the more aggressive Aztecs or Mayans, the temples had been built with an eye for working harmoniously with the landscape. Many of the temples blended in with the cliffs, or were even built into them. Others were carved with reliefs and statues of trees, animals, and birds interacting with the gods. The workmanship on them was incredible. Just the nose on Shermala, the sun goddess, was etched so perfectly that Leia wouldn't have been surprised to see the nostrils sniffing out the tiny men underneath her carved feet.

"Nice job, monkey breath." Harry grinned. "This shouldn't be too hard."

Leia glared at him. "It only takes one to sound the alarm."

Harry gave her another smirk. "Then we'll do it real quiet-like."

She rolled her eyes. "You wouldn't know quiet it if it bit you in the rear."

"Guys," Luke groaned softly, "this is a bad time to argue."

"Um, Miss Leia," Clarence tugged at her arm and pointed towards the back of the temple. "I think one of our furry companions has done something rather rash."

"Oh no." Leia's eyes widened as one of the monkeys scampered over to the motorcycle and climbed onto the seat. "Can't someone get him off?"

Harry made a face. "There goes our surprise attack."

The monkey was fascinated by the controls. His fleshy face screwed up in concentration as he pushed at one of the levers. One of the men had left the keys in the ignition. He turned them...and suddenly, the vehicle took off into the woods like a shot, with the little fellow hanging on for dear life! The remaining motorcycle officers heard them and followed them into the undergrowth.

"Oh dear," Clarence fussed. "I hope he's all right."

Yoda pulled out a set of binoculars. "Fine, he is. Swung into a tree, he did. Intelligent creatures, monkeys are. Left the officers following an empty vehicle, he did."

"You're right, Ancient One." Harry smirked. "Not bad for a furball. There's only two left."

Charel grinned and waved at a couple of the monkeys. He plowed into one of the officers before he could even think about pulling out his gun, knocking him into the side of the stone temple. Monkeys scampered onto the other one, grabbing at his legs and hair. One pried the insignia off his jacket, inspecting it and trying to wear it as a hat. Another stole his hat and looked into it, wondering how the human could fit in that small bowl.

"Nice work, Char." Harry handed him two coils of rope. "Help me get these two tied up, before they raise the alarm."

Luke pushed hard at the rocky cliff that melded into the entrance. "How are we going to get in here?"

"According to Papa Bail's notes," Leia began, "there should be a secret entrance cut into the rock, intended only for Jedi, the Guardians, and their attendants."

"Everyone," Yoda insisted, "feel around side of stone. There may be one stone that is loose, or out of place. Pull any stone you can, but be careful. Loose stones may fall on heads. Want to be in hospital with fractured skulls, we do not."

"Thanks for the warning, old man." Artie rolled his eyes as they all ran their hands along the moss-covered rocks. "This is crazy. If we were in the movies, we'd just be able to pull one of those rocks, and the door would open."

"We are not in the movies, Arthur." Clarence sighed in frustration. "However, he does have a point. That back entrance seems to be lost to time, I'm afraid." He leaned against one of the rocks in the cliff. "It's been thousands of years. Face it. We'll never...oh!"

They all turned around as Clarence seemingly disappeared into the rock! "Buddy!" Artie dashed over first. "What happened?" He peered into the opening, his dark skin mingling with the inky blackness. "Hey, I think Goldie found the entrance!"

"I'm so glad," Clarence moaned. "Now, could someone please help me stand? I think I landed on a knife of some kind. It's cutting me through one of my best shirts!"

"It's not a knife." Leia inspected the ground under him as the others helped him to his feet. Luke used the Sword of Light to cut away at the entrance. "It's a crystal." The sharp shard of blue rock glittered dully in her palm. "I think it's a khyber crystal."

Luke nodded. "I wonder if there's more around here?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if there is." Harry pulled a flashlight out of the worn leather satchel he carried, shining it into the darkness. "We need to get in there." His voice was oddly strangled. "It...well, we just gotta."

Clarence pulled away. "There's no way I'm walking around in that death trap. It's not in my job description. I'm a secretary, not an explorer" He grabbed the back of Artie's collar. "Since when were you an explorer?"

Artie glared at him "I ain't lettin' the kids walk off on their own! Who knows what's out there?"

"Why don't you two and Charel stay here?" Leia pulled out the notebook. "Someone will need to meet Laurence and Wedge when they arrive and keep an eye out for Vader and Palpatine and their boys."

Charel growls and waved his arms, but Harry shook his head. "I kinda agree with Her Worship. The others will be around soon. If you see anythin' wrong, even a little bit, come after us, ok?" His friend nodded, but he still looked concerned.

"Come with you, I will." Yoda leaned on his walking stick. "Translate, I can. Take care of myself, I can."

"I'm not sure I like that," Leia sighed, "but we do need another translator."

The Sword of Light glowed blue in Luke's hands. "I'm ready."

Leia raised the Sword of Wisdom as it glowed pale blue. "So am I. Let's go."

The moment they stepped in, Harry knew he had to be here. He couldn't explain it. Something wanted him here. He could hear it calling him. It was strange. He thought all this Force talk was nonsense when they first started out. Now, especially after he saw Leia turn Yasmin into dust, he...well, he didn't exactly believe, but there was no other way he could explain what happened with Yasmin, or with Luke and the Empire's weapon in Coruscant, or Ben vanishing like he did.

He stumbled over roots as he followed Leia, Luke, and Yoda down the corridor. "Stay close, everyone." Leia was paying more attention to the notes than to the stone in front of her. "We're coming up on those booby traps Papa Bail mentioned."

Harry winced, rubbing his head. "I have a really bad feeling about this."

Yoda looked up as a rumbling was heard from over their heads. "Young ones, duck!"

Harry barely managed to drop to his stomach as iron blades whizzed over their heads. "That was a close one," he panted as they got to their feet.

As usual, the elderly Asian professor was completely unruffled. "Good, good. Good Guardians, you are. Now...jump!"

"Look, old man," Harry began, "I'm not..." He never got to finish the sentiment. Iron spikes burst from the ground beneath their feet. He barely managed to leap before one stabbed him in the foot.

Leia landed behind him, grinning slightly. "Is anyone having as much fun as I am?"

"No!" Luke landed on his rear next to his sister. "Ouch! What next?"

"Look out for rocks and boulders," Yoda explained as, to Harry's surprise, he nimbly hopped over the spikes. "There will be many, but you cannot outrun them. Outsmart them, you must."

"Could you speak English, old codger?" Harry made a face. "How can we outsmart rocks?"

Luke gulped as more rumbles were heard over their heads. "I think we're about to find out."

Three massive blue, green, and yellow crystal boulders ran on wood and stone platforms over their heads. "Don't just stand there!" Leia started running the moment the green one hit the ground. "Get moving!"

"Shit!" Harry took off as the yellow boulder rolled down the hall, following him over narrow fissures and across deep chasms. He was glad for the mossy vines that hung down from the ceilings and allowed him to swing across. Maybe it was time he considered bringing a whip or something along. Sure, it made him sound like a lion tamer, but it would be a hell of a lot easier to get across rivers and gorges than with rope.

"Wait..." He could hear the other three yelling and the echoing of the boulders as they bumped down the hall. "They're all going in the same direction." He ran as hard as he could to the end of a hallway. It was blocked by a seemingly bare wall and more vines. "Leia! Luke! Old guy! When you get to the end, grab those vines!"

Leia sounded agitated, even for her. "Are you crazy?"

"Know what he intends, I do." He saw a flash across a gaping pit ahead of him of Yoda hopping up and taking a vine.

"What do you...ahh!" Luke nearly fell headlong into the pit before stumbling off and grabbing for the vine at the last minute. Harry saw Leia in another cave over him jump up and snatch a vine, just as the crystal boulder bumped beneath her.

All three boulders went flying into the ravine at the same time. They slammed into each other with a deafening impact that shook every stone in the temple. Jagged blue, green, and yellow shards flew everywhere as the remaining halves of the boulders tumbled into the ravine below.

"Whew!" Luke jumped down. "That was close."

"Kid!" Harry was still swinging on his vine. "Hold on! I'm comin' over!"

"No, Captain, come, you should not." Yoda dropped down easily from his vine. "Too far, it is. Even with Force, you could not swing over."

Harry frowned. "Maybe not in your direction..." He swung, not ahead, but to the side, landing face-first on the side of the wall. "Ok, maybe that wasn't such a great idea." The call of...well, whatever weird Force thing it was seemed stronger the further up he went. Gasps went up behind him as he took a hand-hold and climbed up the wall.

Leia had jumped off her vine in the cave under him just in time to let out a screech. "Harry, watch out! They're coming!"

"What?" Bullets sent pebbles raining down on him overhead. "Shit!" He tried to climb quicker, but almost lost his footing when it was shot out from under him. "How did Vader and his boys find us?"

Leia grabbed his hands. "We'll discuss my Vader's uncanny knack for following us later." She managed to haul him onto the ledge, just another shower of bullets dislodged pebbles over their heads. "But right now, we have to get out of here."

Harry dusted his US Army Air Corps jacket off and set the cap at a jaunty angle. "Come on, sweetheart. Something is here, either the sword or your big weapon. Well...this is going to sound strange, but it's callin' me. I can hear it. I'm it's Guardian, or somethin'." He shrugged. "I think it has the wrong guy, but who am I to argue with a Force and a sword covered in crystals that could probably cut me in half?"

"No kidding." Leia peered briefly across the chasm. "Luke and Yoda are gone. I'd call to them, but I don't want to give away our presence to Vader and his goons."

"Good thinking. We'll meet the kid and the old guy later." Harry pulled out his flashlight. "Come on. The call is feelin' strongest..." He turned to his right, leading her down a wider hall strewn with thick cobwebs and strange pictures and writing on the walls. "This way."

Harry felt like he followed that call for hours. The only light they saw were the low yellow beams of their flashlights and the occasional sunlight emerging from a break in the crumbling ceilings. "Sweetheart, I don't read ancient gibberish," he grumbled when they stopped yet again so she could get her fill of the wall. "What does it say?"

"It says..." Leia pushed him against the wall, "move!"

A thin crystal with a blade like steel dropped down from over their heads. It just barely missed them as it slammed into the floor, slicing clean through and shattering on the next level. "Those Guardians," Harry grumbled, breathing hard, "had a really sick sense of humor."

"Well, if you're going to keep people out," Leia pointed out with a shaky smile, "why not use what you know?"

Harry turned his flashlight to the wall beyond the crystal blade. "Hey." A series of crystal blocks were set in a wide square in the wall. "What's all this?" He took out a block and move it around. "It's like a puzzle."

Leia flashed her light on the writing along the wall. "According to this, those who solve the puzzle will have the strength to find what calls to them."

Harry nodded. "It's stronger here. Whatever that...it...is, it's calling me. It wants me." He rolled his eyes as he started moving around the gems. "I have no idea why it needs me, but it does."

"What does it say?" Leia pulled a shiny sky-blue piece to the top of the rock, where it clicked into place. "Hey, this is a puzzle! Every piece has a place where it fits."

"Yeah." Harry barely heard her. He was too busy trying to sort out all the pieces. "The yellow ones go in a triangle. Like a pyramid..."

"It's the Temple!" Leia pushed several smaller pink crystal pieces next to it. "And these are the Jedi." She arranged more pieces, until they bore blocky resemblances to warriors in the elaborate feathered and beaded Jedi robes.

"And this is..." Harry frowned as he tried to organize several pieces, "is not working."

"This is the sun." Leia pulled the remaining yellow pieces into place. "And sunbeams," she added as yellow pieces snapped into a line under the round crystals. "But that..."

Harry pulled the gray and green crystals into place over the Temple. "Looks like one of the swords."

"It does." Leia did the second. "You did the Sword of Wisdom. Here's the Sword of Light."

"Then this," Harry finished with gray-and-yellow pieces, "is the Sword of Strength."

Leia ran her fingers over the yellow stripes coming from the sword. "What are they doing?"

"Drawing light from the sun?" Harry pushed more brilliantly colored stones around it. "The swords are all supposed to be in here..."

The moment he clicked the stones into place, the crystal Temple mural lit up from within, glowing like the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles on Friday night. "I have a bad feeling about this," Harry muttered.

The wall rumbled. Tiles and pieces of the ceiling crumbled and crashed to the ground around them as the mural slid away, revealing a larger chamber. "Oh my god." Leia stepped in first, her flashlight glowing gold on the debris scattered around the floor. "I think we found it."

"Yeah," Harry muttered as he followed her. "I think we did."

Leia had never seen anything like the amazing statues that lined the walls. Each one was perfect likeness of a Jedi warrior, carved in blue, green, and yellow khyber crystal. They looked exactly like the artwork of the Guardians of the Swords seen in Papa Bail's sketchbook. "This is it," she breathed as her fingertips ran along the empty hand of one of the statues. It was curved as if it still held a handle. "All the Swords were here, once." Her eyes flitted across the notebook, and then the writing on the wall over the statues. "Only the keepers of the Swords can unlock and control the weapon."

"Damn it, it's here!" Harry ignored her, trying to pull at some of the broken crystal on the wall opposite. "I can feel the thing! It needs me! Ow!" One of the broken crystal shards had stuck him, cutting him on his finger. He sucked at it. "There has to be some puzzle..." He tried pushing pieces of crystal around the wall, but he just ended up with cut fingers. "Shit. This is stupid." Leia had come to the opposite wall to join him. "Hey sweetheart, mind if I borrow your jacket?"

"What about yours?" She tugged the khaki jacket further over her shoulders, clad in a blue button-down blouse.

"Leia, this is a good jacket! It's leather! Not to mention, I don't have much left from my Air Corps days." His eyes widened. "I need this. The Sword needs this."

"Fine." The moment she slid out of the jacket, Harry wrapped it around his right fist. He felt for an indentation in the wall, where the crystal seemed to be a little thinner. "Here. It's right here."

He put his hand through the crystal wall. To Leia's surprise, instead of cracking, it left a round hole. "I think I saw this in the book." She flung open the notebook as he leaned in, trying to feel around. "You should be able to open the wall easily now, like we did with the door in here when we finished the puzzle."

Harry nodded and pulled at the wall. There was a rumble and a crack, and it once again slid across the floor, vanishing into the back of the room. "Well, that worked. Now what?"

The smaller room had two cobweb-strewn statues standing on either side. Unlike the ones in the main room, these were carved entirely in a pale yellow crystal. "I wonder why no one ever found this room?" Leia studied the statues. "They look like the carvings in the book, but they're not holding anything." She studied the writing over their heads. "You have to give them a helping hand."

"How can I do that for crystal?" Harry studied their hands. "You know, Your Worship, they kind of look like they want to shake our hands and thank us for managing to get this far." He gave her that little smirk. "At least hunks of crystal know how to be respectful."

"That's it." She grinned at Harry. "I think that's it. Why don't you shake their hands?"

Harry nodded. "Why not? I have to get back there somehow, and it's not weirder than anything else we've run into on this trip."

His fingers laced with the soft canary yellow crystal ones. As he shook it, the statues seemed to move out of the wall, sliding in much the same way as the door. "That's it!" Leia grinned. "We did it! That's the Sword of Strength!"

"Come to Papa, baby." Harry gently tugged the long, flat blade studded with softly glowing golden-yellow gems out of the stone alcove where it was hidden for so long. "Yeah, you wanted me, didn't you?"

Leia shuddered. "I'm glad you found that thing, but I think it's time we got out of here. Vader and his creeps are still after us."

"Yeah, I know." Harry swished the sword around. "Hey, not bad." He looked up as Leia moved out of his way. "You know, Sweetheart, you still have your toothpick, too. Maybe we could go back there, overpower Vader's goons, and get the hell out of here."

"I don't know." Leia rubbed her forehead. "I have a bad feeling about this. I feel like...like we're being watched..."

They heard the sound of footsteps too late. "Hello, daughter." Vader strode in last as his men and the Coruscant officers surrounded them. "Thank you for leaving me the maps. Between the map and following you, it took us right to the location of the final sword." He glared at Harry under that wide-brimmed fedora. "I can't believe that the Sword of Strength chose you as Benton Kenobi's successor. You're nothing like him, Solomon. You're just a common thief."

"Maybe I ain't like him, Ugly." Harry gave him that lazy smirk. "But I can do somethin' a gentleman like him wouldn't do." His fist started to glow with yellow light. "I can hit pretty damn hard."

His fist went right into what remained of Vader's scarred and pockmarked nose. The big man flew across the room, right into the arms of one of the statues. "Get out of here, Leia!" Harry slashed at another one with the sword, then smacked a third on the rear with it. "Go find Char and the others! Tell 'em Vader knows we're here!"

Leia jumped in front of him, swinging her sword so hard, it went through two men at once. She concentrated on two more, telling to them to turn around and forget why they came. To her surprise, after the green light dissipated from their heads, they swung around on their heels and marched right out of the room.

"Harry, I don't want to leave you. You don't know where the exit is. You'll get lost" She managed to duck away from another man and lean over and give Harry a kiss, before they swung around and, as one, stabbed two officers with their swords.

"One of us has to sound the alarm, Sweetheart." Harry almost shoved her out the door. "Go! I'll be behind you in a few minutes!" He gave her that grin. "I love you, Sweetheart."

Leia grinned right back. "I know."

"This is sickening." Vader tried to block the exit across from the larger warrior statues. "You can't run from me, daughter. I know your weakness, how you operate. No matter where you hide, I'll find you."

"And no matter how much you talk, I'll still be able to do this!" Leia brought up her knee into her father's groin. She gave him an evil grin as he groaned loudly and collapsed. "I just found one part that wasn't replaced with metal."

Harry cheered wildly as she darted out the door. "Nice work, Leia! Good girl! I'll be there in a minute!"

He was beginning to really like this Force business. His glowing fist flung goons all over the room. One even landed on the head of one of the two-story statues in the main room, looking like part of his feathered headdress.

"You know, I've really been enjoying this little party." Harry turned his smirk on the two remaining guys. "But I promised my girlfriend that I'd follow her. It's not a good idea to upset the woman you're hoping to marry." He rubbed his head and made a face. "Besides, I feel something nasty coming. Were any of you guys ever Jedi, or..."

A black-gloved hand slammed across the back of Harry's head. The pilot slumped to the stone floor as the Sword of Strength clattered to the ground. He gasped as Vader's dark red light hefted him into the air like one of the small Alderaanian toy warriors he'd seen in Yasmin's collection.

"The Guardian of Strength." Harry struggled to breathe, trying to pry Vader's thick fingers from his neck. "I don't understand why the Sword chose you," the big man snarled, "but you will in handy. Very handy." Harry struggled, but he couldn't stay awake much longer. Vader had a firm hold on his windpipe. He let out one more desperate gasp before sagging, out cold.

Vader swept the Sword into his grasp as the remaining men swarmed over Harry. "Tie him up and bring him to the Weapon Room. I have...plans...for my daughter's rascal of a lover." The larger officer wound rope around Harry's wrists and ankles and managed to haul him over his shoulder before they made their way out.

Luke knew he and Yoda had been walking for hours. His teacher, at least, seemed to have some idea of where he was going. "Come, come," the little greenish professor chortled. "Find what we are looking for, we will. Get their hands on it, Vader and his chancellor must not."

"What are we looking for?" Luke slashed walls of thick cobwebs with the Sword of Light...and the occasional thicker spider. "And the next time I follow Leia on one of these trips, I'm bringing industrial-strength bug spray and a dust cloth. This is worse than trying to get through the jungle."

"Alderaanian secret Death Star weapon, we must find." Yoda easily ducked under most of the cobwebs. "Here, it is. At the top, it is."

"At the top of what?" Luke slashed through a curtain of vines. "This temple?" He shuddered. "I'm almost beginning to wish we'd stayed with the others. I have a bad feeling about this."

Yoda wasn't listening. He was reading the carvings that had been hidden under the curtain of vines. "To unleash the weapon," Yoda said, "a test of the Force, you must take part in. Only those who believe in the Force will see the way to the Star."

"What do you mean?" Luke frowned as he looked at the empty nothing beyond the curtain. "It's just a pit!"

"Pit, you say?" Yoda gave him a toothless smile. "Pit, you say. Bridge, I say."

"Master, it's a pit!" The young reporter looked down...and instantly wished he hadn't. The chasm continued into infinite blackness. He couldn't even begin to see the bottom. "All right." Luke sighed. "I'll give it a try."

"Concentrate, you must. Do, or do not! There is no try" Yoda put out his hand and closed his eyes. "A trick, it is. Only those with faith in the Force can raise the bridge."

"Well, all right." For a moment, the only thing Luke felt was the breath of air coming through the cracks in the temple walls. Then, a tingle, a glow that zipped up through his hands and arms. "I...I can see it!" The light knew. There was energy in him, strength. The energy sizzled in his veins. It bubbled over, seeping into every pore and crack in that wall.

When Luke opened his eyes, the very lichen in the walls glowed with the same blue light he got from his sword. A bright blue bridge, almost translucent, extended over the gorge and into the next room. "We did it!" He stepped cautiously onto the bridge. The light held. It didn't even waver. "It worked!" He happened to look down...and notice bubbling golden liquid below them. It smelled like boiling melted aluminum foil.

"Work, it did. Work, it always will, when you believe in the Force." Luke swiveled around to see that Yoda had already gotten across. "Come." He wiped his forehead. "The liquid below us is melted metal. Not fall, we must. Quick way to be metal statues, it is."

The sun was just beginning it's inevitable slide into the horizon when they emerged into a wide, dusty chamber. It's rays showed behind a row of arched windows, each guarded by a glittering gold and gem-studded statue. A wide gold and metal pedestal dominated the center of the room, directly under a round hole in the roof. The walls were etched with what looked like round moons, and each warrior had a glowing moon, green or gold or blue, on their metal shields.

"This is it," Yoda stated as Luke gaped at the shimmering golden warriors. "The Death Star weapon, we have found."

"But where?" Luke walked around, trying to find an opening. "I don't see a gun or anything."

Yoda stepped up to to the pedestal. "This is it," he repeated. "Sword goes here. When all swords are here, activated, the Death Star will be."

"This is incredible!" Luke whipped out his camera. "No one in LA will ever believe this!"

Yoda frowned, rubbing his head. "Leave, we must." He reached for his own staff. "Darkness, come, it does. Find this place, it must not."

Luke was too busy taking photos to pay attention to the sick feeling in his stomach or the sound of footsteps that were too heavy to be Yoda's. "What do you mean?"

Yoda stepped closer to the pedestal, his hand out. "He is here."

"He who?" Luke looked up...just in time to be slammed with a bolt of purple lightning. It flung him into the wall as easily as Luke could fling a rag doll.

"Palpatine." Yoda managed to pull himself up first as the wave of lightning subsided. "How did you manage to get here ahead of us?"

"Followed you after you took off at the gorge." The old man in the long black coat and heavy gray suit that was a size too big was even more of a shriveled prune than he'd appeared back at Coruscant. The shark grin he gave Luke sent shivers down his spine. "I see you have one of my new apprentices with you. How kind of you. I'll be taking him to Coruscant City after we use the Death Star Weapon to subdue a few countries that are...holding out."

"Fight you, I will." Yoda put out his hand. "Take the Skylarks, you will not."

"How can you fight me, you old goat?" Palpatine cackled, sounding for all the world like a witch from a fairy tale. "You can barely stand."

"Have a mind, I do." Yoda lashed out with a surge of green light that lifted Palpatine squirming in the air. "Have my ways, I do." He tossed the dictator into the statue with the green gems. More green light surrounded the statue, until its arms somehow managed to squeeze the squirming elderly dictator.

"You think I'm impressed with your child's play?" Palpatine's cackling echoed in the dusty chambers. A cracking noise followed it, as a dark eggplant purple light wrapped around the arms, pushing them slowly apart. Palpatine dropped to the ground, cushioning himself from the fall with a pillow of light. "A mere bagatelle. Any Jedi could do such a thing." Purple lightning from his fingertips curled around the statues. "I don't suppose you could do this. After all, it has been a long time."

"Twenty years, it has been." Yoda stepped back, pushing Luke behind him. "Twenty years since we fought in the courtyard here, after young Skylark killed those workers." Yoda glared at him. "Children, some of them were. Innocent, they were. Never harmed you, they did not. No reason for their deaths."

"They would have told everyone about this place. We couldn't leave survivors." Palpatine smirked. "We've known this was here for years. It was just a matter of pinpointing the actual room itself. Bail Organa was nice enough to do it for us."

"No!" Luke pulled out his sword. "Papa Bail wanted all this to be for the good of mankind, not some crazy old man who's read way too many comic books about maniacs who want to take over the world!"

"Oh, it'll be for the good of mankind." Palpatine raised his hand. "My kind. The power this weapon wields will allow Coruscant to become the dominating superpower in the entire world! Every country will bow to our superior will and strength!"

"Right, the boy is. In your right mind, you are not." Yoda raised his hand, sending a softer blue light over Palpatine. He screamed, falling to his knees and throwing his bony fingers over his eyes. "Corrupted, you are. Purify you, I can. Yes, make your mind better, I can."

"I don't want your pity, old man." When Palpatine removed his hands, his eyes were a mustard-y yellow and glowed with an unholy light. "I want your power!"

His purple light shot out at Yoda, surrounding the tiny man. The light circled him and bound him, sucking his green light out in heavy waves. The more light went through Yoda, the more he sagged.

"NO!" Luke charged Palpatine. "I lost Ben to this, and I'm not going to lose another teacher!" He slammed into the rope with his sword, his blue light "cutting" through Palpatine's beam like a saw through wood.

Palpatine jumped back. Yoda fell to the ground, breathing heavily. Luke caught him as the elderly chancellor screeched. "You're too late, boy!" His smiled chilled Luke to the bone. "That old goat doesn't have enough power left to fill a thimble!"

"Yoda!" Luke rushed to the elderly man's side and pulled him into his lap. "I'm so sorry. I couldn't stop him. I tried, I really did, but..."

"Do, or do not, remember?" Yoda's voice was down to a rasp. "When gone am I...the last of the Jedi, will you three be. Pass on...what you...have...learned." Tiny fingers tugged on Luke's black jacket. "The Force...is strong...in your family. You have it...your father has it...your sister has it...any...child...that..."

"Yoda?" Even as the young man spoke, his diminutive mentor was fading away in his arms. "Professor, please! No!" With one last soft curl of green light, the little man vanished, leaving behind only his old khaki traveling suit and pith helmet. "Oh god, no. Not again."

All Luke saw was red. He lunged for Palpatine, his sword raised. "Good! Good!" The chancellor was more nimble than he appeared and was easily able to dodge the angry reporter. Luke slammed into him, holding the sword to his neck when he ended up on the ground. Palpatine only laughed. "You're very good, my boy. But not good enough."

Luke didn't have enough time to dodge him before the purple light writhed around him. "Let me go!" The young reporter flailed wildly as Palpatine's violet beam raised him into the air. "I won't let you drink my magic, like you did Yoda's! I'm not a root beer float!"

"Hardly." The evil smile spread from ear to ear. It chilled Luke to his bones. "I have more...specific...plans in mind for you, my young apprentice. You and your friend Solomon are going to help me release the weapon."

Luke gave him his best angry glare. "You're mistaken. Soon, you'll be dead, and me with you."

"Oh, you'll find it's you who are mistaken, young one. About a great many things." Palpatine lifted the Sword of Light with the purple beam from his other hand and stabbed it into the pedestal. "I'm afraid the Death Star weapon will be quite operational when the rest of your friends arrive."

Luke swung to and fro, only able to watch helplessly as the Sword of Light gave off a sickly dark-blue glow from the crystal in the center of the room.

"I really don't like this." Artie frowned. "They should have gotten out of there by now."

"Well, they are exploring a lost temple." Clarence shrugged. "That involves a considerable amount of danger. Who knows what might have happened in there?"

The stubby chauffeur pulled out his flashlight. "That's why I'm goin' in."

"Are you crazy?" Clarence grabbed his arm. "We don't have a map or Professor Organa's notebook!"

"We have you." His best friend smirked. "You can read the lingo, and the lingo for every crazy lost civilization this side of the Rio Grande. That's why Bail hired you in the first place. You're a translator."

"Yes, but...that's all I am! A translator! I do not work in the field!" His arms waving wildly with every word. "I'm no good with danger! I'll faint the first time I see a hairy spider!"

Artie grabbed his collar before he could run. "We'll take that chance." Charel grabbed his other arm. "Thanks there, buddy. Yeah, your friend is in there, too. We swore to their parents that we'd keep an eye on the Skylark kids. Yoda's an old buddy of mine, too. How about you, Char?"

Clarence nodded as Charel went on in his rough Russian basso. "He says he owes Captain Solomon his life. They helped each other escape a mud pit where they were trapped during the Great War, and the Captain has been his friend and confidante ever since." His thin yellow face managed a smile. "Yes, Mr. Bacca, Captain Solomon is a very rash man. It is more than likely that if it wasn't for you, he wouldn't be alive now." He raised an eyebrow. "You know Professor Chiang? From the War? He was in Russia?" Charel nodded, continuing in his deep barks. "There's certainly many things I didn't know about the Professor. I didn't think Russian history was his area of expertise."

"It ain't." Artie went on as he peered into the blackness beyond the rocks. "He was there right before the Revolution broke out. Managed to get out just a month before all hell broke loose in Moscow."

Charel winced at the reference and nodded. "You helped each other get out? He was there to help some of your family?" Clarence's mouth dropped open. "I'm sorry about your family, but I had no idea the Professor was involved in the Russian Revolution!"

"Yeah, you think you know some people." Artie looked over his shoulder. "Let's get going. I have a bad feeling about this. The kids might need us."

"Wait!" Clarence shook his head. "We need to wait for Mr. Laurence. He's supposed to be around with the rest of the team."

Charel poked Clarence on the shoulder...and pointed to four Coruscant officers with guns coming around the corner, followed by a whole platoon of local Guatemalan workers. "I don't think we have a choice, Goldie!" Artie shoved his best friend in the door, followed by Charel. The monkeys remained behind to grab at the men's ankles and weapons and jump on their heads while Artie and Charel managed to shove the rock door closed.

Leia, for her part, had never been so fascinated...and a little winded. All the writing on the walls, the artwork...it was inspiring. She never dreamed she'd learn so much about Alderaanian culture and the Jedi warriors. Some of it directly inspired other, later cultures. They worshiped the sun and nature; darkness was an evil, terrifying thing. According to the reliefs and artwork, Jedi, who were previously thought of as simply Alderaan's army, were actually peacekeepers, more like warrior monks than soldiers. They lived simply in the Temples...at least until other cultures began encroaching on theirs. That was when they started developing as fighters and created their weapon.

Long staircases twisted and turned around and around, sometimes going off into seemingly nowhere. Occasionally, she'd see boulders or axes lodged in walls, or walls with very modern bullets in them. She gasped as the light from the Sword of Wisdom picked up two bodies that had been stabbed to death by falling spears, their eyes wide in frozen horror. A skeleton further down was missing his head, crushed under another boulder.

"Ok," she muttered to herself, "I can see we don't want to upset these people."

She was just starting to wonder if the staircase would never end when the eerie green beam showed a light at the very top of the tunnel. Her fingers traced along the walls. "It all points to here," she whispered. "Oh Papa Bail, this is it. I knew I'd find it. This is where they were keeping the weapon." She wiped the back of her forehead. Her cotton jacket and dark blouse were wet with perspiration. "Whew! It's hot in here. Even more than it is outside, I think. This place must be built on hot springs or something."

As she walked under the arches, she heard a familiar voice, screaming in terror. "Leia! Please, help us! Leia!"

"Luke!" She'd never run so fast in her life. Pebbles scattered under her feet as she hurried up the crumbling embankment. She barely even noticed the glowing bridge. "Luke, I'm coming!"

She stopped in her tracks when she found the light, staring at the scene before her in horror. "Leia!" Luke and Harry were bound hand and foot together with thick vines, in front of a metal pedestal. Molten metal steamed and bubbled around in the pit just below their feet. Her brother's normally tan face was Snow White-pale. "Leia, careful!"

"Sweetheart!" Harry wriggled behind her brother. "Use that giant glowing butter knife of yours and get us down from here!" Both men screamed as the vine began unraveling. "It's not gonna hold much longer!"

Leia closed her eyes, trying to focus. "Hold on, boys. I just need to focus on the vine..."

"Sis, hurry!" Her brother's voice had gone up six octaves. "Watch out for Vader!"

"Vader?" Leia's eyes flew open...just in time to see the beam of sizzling ruby red light coming in her direction. She just barely managed to leap and roll out of it's way.

"Hello, daughter." Vader stepped in front of the massive metal statues along the wall. "I've been waiting for you. I thought you'd come running if you knew your lover and brother were in danger."

"Father," Leia growled, "get out of my way! I have to save them!"

"Join me, daughter." Vader put out his hand. "Join me, and we can bring order to this world gone mad."

"Knock it the hell off!" Leia slashed at him with her sword, sending a blue light in his direction. It bounced off his gloved palm harmlessly. "I'm not going to join you and that fruitcake you call a chancellor, so you can just get that out of your head right now!"

Harry winced as the vine dropped an inch. "Uh, Leia?" His booted toes were dangling precariously close to the molten metal. "Could you stop messing around with your pop and maybe start thinking about getting us down?"

"I'll be the one who brings you down. You've done your job." She shouldn't have been surprised when Palpatine emerged from behind one of the statues. "Good girl. Use your hatred. Release your anger. Only your hatred can destroy us."

"Stop it! Just stop!" Leia lunged for the Chancellor, sword drawn...but to her surprise, her sizzling blue glow was met by an equally jagged red blade.

"Leia," Vader rasped, "I can't let you kill him. He's done so much for me. He can do more for you, too. Ben and Ahsoka never wanted to hear that. Neither did Bail. I offered to let them and your mother in on the ground floor in Empire Industries. They all turned me down."

"Because they all knew you'd gone insane!" Leia slashed hard at her father, harder than she ever had in her life. She'd never used a sword before, but it fit in her hand like a glove. "Father, is it worth all this? Hurting people? Killing innocent workers, including children? Killing the Jedi, who had lives and families? Ordering Papa Bail and his staff killed? Over what?" She had to jump onto the pedestal to stare into his empty dark eyes, but it was worth it. "Some ancient weapon?"

"Power, child." Vader clenched his gloved fist. "No one at UCLA listened to me. I've known about the Alderaanian experiments with weapons and the power of the sun since after the Great War, but they refused to offer me tenure at the archaeology department. Wouldn't even give me a chair. I was an assistant professor, and I would always be an assistant professor."

Palpatine cackled, looking and sounding like a traditional witch in his long dark coat. "That's why I helped him. After all, his wife had little ones coming. If he found the weapon for me, I'd show him how to keep her alive."

"But you didn't!" She turned her blazing blue blade on the elder man. "You didn't help him! Mother died! You killed her!"

"Of course I didn't, child. I wasn't anywhere near her when she died. I was in Coruscant." His dry laughter was getting on her nerves. "Your father killed her."

"You WHAT?!" Luke and Leia screamed at the same time so loudly that their voices echoed in the cavernous room. Harry's deep hazel eyes were wide. For once, he couldn't think of a single thing to say.

"Father, how could you?" Luke wailed. "I thought you loved Mother!"

"You're not only a liar, a swindler, and a bastard," Leia shrieked, "you're a murderer! You killed you own damn wife! We never knew our mother, because of you! No wonder none of our relatives ever wanted to talk about her!"

"The Organas and the Skylarks are mealy-mouthed cowards who never could handle the truth." Vader's pockmarked face dropped, as if he could actually be haunted by the terrible things he'd done.

"I never meant to harm your mother. We wanted you two more than anything in the world. She just...she was just like everyone else. She followed me to the pit outside this room. The metal flows here, the molten gold. It always has, since ancient times. Padme...she said she couldn't follow me anymore. I told her I wanted the world for her."

His hiss became more of a choke. "She said she didn't want the world. She wanted me to come home. She didn't care about the power, or that the Sword of Wisdom chose her. She said she was happy with her family."

Leia circled him. "Why the hell didn't you? Papa Bail told me that Mother loved you until the day she died! Lord only knows why!" 

To her surprise, he reached out and touched her cheek tenderly. His black glove was surprisingly warm. "You look so much like her, Leia. She was tiny, too. Tiny, but strong. Tough. I could drag her through the jungles, follow her into dusty temples and muddy pits, and she'd always come out looking like she'd just spent a day in a tea room in San Francisco."

"Then why?" Leia shoved him away. "Why did you kill her?"

"I didn't mean to." Vader's hiss was softer. Almost...human. "I just...I got angry. I wanted to show her the ways of the Force. I thought she'd understand. I did everything I did for her!"

Leia held the sword at his chest. "Does that include killing off the other Jedi?"

"They had to go. Besides knowing too much, they all laughed at me." Vader held up his own sword. "You don't know how to handle that, girl. You've had no practice."

His daughter sniffed. "And you're a rusty old machine."

Luke and Harry let out another screech as another vine snapped. "Damn it!" Harry's voice called out, taking on a tinge of hysteria. "This is a bad time for a family reunion!"

Palpatine's cackle dislodged loose stones from the ceiling, sending them crashing down into the liquid gold. "On the contrary, Captain." He smirked. "I think it's a splendid time." He raised his hand...and to Leia's shock, the Sword of Wisdom's flat hilt flew into it. "Enough of this foolishness. Vader, bring her to me. We'll need their magic to make this work."

"No." Leia stepped back towards the bridge and the cliff just outside the room. "I won't do it. You've failed, Chancellor. You can't control us, like you did Vader. I am an explorer, a historian, and an archaeologist!"

"Yeah!" Harry called from the vines. "We're not your stooges!"

"We're Jedi," Luke added, "like Father, Mother, Yoda, and Ben before us!"

"If you will not turn, girl," the Chancellor hissed, "you will be forced! I need your magic! Only the Guardians can unleash the Weapon!" His cackling echoed around the room as the lightning blasted from his fingertips.

Leia struggled, but it circled her, singing her hair and clothes. She screamed as the lightning lifted her off the ground and dragged her across the threshold to the pedestal. Her fingers itched to hold the Sword, though she fought it with all her might.

Vader lifted the two men right before they snapped and dropped them next to Leia. "Take the hilts of your swords." The red and purple lights forced their fingers open, ignoring their angry cries. "Concentrate. Throw all your focus into the weapon."

"No..." Luke sobbed, tears running down his cheeks as the burning light coursed around the trio. "Father, please!"

As Vader watched dispassionately, the sun passed over the swords on their way beneath the horizon. The sun's last rays reflected off the polished shields, hitting the khyber crystals all around the room. The crystal the sword was in slowly rumbled to life, consuming the light from the gems as they glowed in a rainbow of blue, green, and gold.

Leia tried to pull her fingers away, but they remained attached to the hilt of the sword, a permanent part of them. "Father, stop!" Her gasp was barely heard over the roar of the beam. "Stop this madness!" Tears ran down her brother's dirt-streaked face, and even Harry sweated and cursed profusely.

"Oh dear." Palpatine turned his light on the statues...which, as one, turned on discs inset in the floor. The brilliant beams were now aimed at the airplanes overhead. Leia recognized one as Wally's bi-plane. The other could be none other than the flying junk pile the Silver Falcon. "I'm afraid the weapon is now quite operational." He sneered at the helpless trio on the dais. "Witness the fire power of this weapon. It's like none that's ever been seen before on this planet! In this universe!"

The beam turned itself on the remaining temples and the former City of Aldra. It blasted the Imperial camp site, obliterating all within shouting distance. There was barely dust and scattered debris left.

"Don't you dare!" Harry growled as the beam returned to the silvery vehicles in the air. "You are not going to hurt my baby!"

Golden light fell on Harry's hands, allowing him to pry his fingers off the Sword's hilt. Luke and Leia fell back as he lunged for Palpatine. Even his raging face had taken on a red-gold hue.

"Don't you even think about hurting that ship, or the people in it!" He grabbed Palpatine and shook him like a rag doll. "Don't you even imagine it, Bela Lugosi!"

"We have to destroy the weapon!" Leia drew out her sword. "Focus on the statues!"

Luke nodded. "Good idea, sis!" He yanked his sword out and concentrated. The statues began to turn around, pointing the sun into the room itself, bouncing off the swords and slicing through the crystal in the room.

"No!" Palpatine turned his light on Luke and Leia...but it never got near him. A Russian curse joined the sounds of cracking crystal and stones. Charel slammed into the Chancellor, sending them both tumbling. Palpatine's light wound up carving a chunk out of one of the statues instead.

"No way!" Artie leaped onto Vader's back, wrapping his arm around his neck. "Sorry to do this to you, Andy, but I ain't gonna let you hurt these kids no more. I promised the Organas and Ben I'd look after 'em...and more to the point, I promised Padme."

"Artie?" Vader was so surprised, he didn't try to fight him. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Followed your trail." Clarence stepped around the mess. "There's broken vines and dislodged crystal scattered from here to the entrance." He grabbed Vader's arm. "I'm sorry, sir, but we really can't let you continue to cause all this harm. We saw that beam of light from one of the windows. Completely insane!"

He shook Clarence away. "Get off me, you skinny fool! You always were a fastidious idiot."

"You..." The man in the sweat-stained gold suit squinted. "You're familiar...I know I've seen you before..."

Artie reached around Vader's shoulder to smack him in the back of his narrow head. "Gee whiz Clarence, you've got Swiss cheese for brains. It's Andy Skylark! Remember Dr. Andy? We were in the war with him!"

"Dr. Skylark?" His eyes widened. "My word! What are you doing consulting with insane dictators in this god-forsaken place?"

Vader pried at Artie's hands. "I'm starting to wonder the same thing. Could you let me go, Arthur? I promise, I'm not going to hurt you or the kids."

Artie smacked the back of his head. "Promise, Andy?"

He sighed and put up a hand. "Jedi's honor, Arthur."

"All right, then." The little chauffeur somehow managed to shimmy back down his older friend's back. "Now we've just gotta keep that so-called Chancellor from makin' more trouble."

Vader gave his friend the first smile that had graced his heavily burned face in many years. "Leave that to me, old friend."

Meanwhile, Leia and Luke had managed to get two of the shields the statues held turned so they faced the sides of the building, rather than the sky. They were already cutting through the crystal and rock walls, making the whole building shake like a bowl of Jello.

"Come on!" Harry ran over to the statues, Charel on his heels. "Help me out here, buddy!" His hands were blazing with gold fire. "We need to get the rest of these turned around." Charel stared at his hands, letting out a stream of concerned Russian. "It doesn't hurt! We'll talk about this later. We need to get these turned around NOW, before the Falcon gets blasted to bits!"

In the dark recesses near the back of the room, Palpatine had managed to draw himself to his feet. He walked fast now, with no trace of a limp. "You silly fools!" He reached for the Sword of Strength. "I will not let you destroy this source of power! We could create a new world order, with Coruscant as the dominating force!"

Leia just gave him her nastiest glare. "Oh, go blow it out your ear. We're not interested."

"Then you're of no use to me." Palpatine unleashed his purple lightning. It sizzled over Luke and Leia, throwing them to the edge of the bubbling molten gold. "It's too bad. You have such strong powers, young ones! But now," he gave them another shot, "you have to die." Leia just barely managed to keep her brother from going over the edge.

Harry, Charel, and Artie all ran at Palpatine at the same time, but Vader got their first. He easily lifted the skeletal ruler over his head like a basket of fruit, even as the lightning continued to fly all over the room. He finally threw his former boss into the hot, steaming metal! The others watched as he slowly sank into the steaming yellow liquid, his screeching subsumed by sizzle of boiling metal.

"Oh, my god." Artie and Charel grabbed the trio away from the pits as the purple light churned the metal into a glowing froth that melted everything around it. "I think it's time we got out of here!"

Even as Artie spoke, the last rays of the setting sun reflected off the metal and the swords in the weapon and their hands...and onto the Temple itself. The very walls began to crack and dissolve, breaking apart and shattering around their heads.

"Uh, yeah." Harry grabbed Leia's arm. "Everyone out! NOW!"

"Wait!" Leia reached for the pedestal as Artie directed the other three towards the door. She barely had the time to yank the Sword of Wisdom out of the crystal before one of the statues toppled to the ground with a crash that could be heard for miles, smashing the pedestal to bits. "Here!" She breathlessly thrust it into Harry's hand. "I'm not leaving without what I came for."

"Great, sweetheart." Harry made a face. "You almost got us killed! What if that thing fell on us?"

"No time for that now!" Leia shoved him ahead as another chunk of rock almost took the back of her head off. "We'll argue about it later!"

"Father?" Luke frowned at Vader. "Aren't you coming with us?" Leia looked over her shoulder, hurrying over to her brother's side.

"It's...too late for me...son." Vader lay on the ground, the lightning still burning up his skin and frying his circuits. "You two...go on. Leave me here."

His son shook his head, tears spilling over and falling onto Andrew Skylark's pitted nose. "No, Father. We have to save you!"

"You already have." Vader coughed, looking up at his daughter. "You both did. Leia...I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything." He gave his son a push. "Go now. Live your lives." The smile that crossed his scarred lips was the only real smile he'd given anyone in twenty years. Luke thought it was beautiful. It made him look like the hero he must have been once. "I'm going to be with Padme again, son. I'm going home."

"Father!" Luke tried to hold onto him, but it was no use. The floor under him melted, sending his lifeless body rolling into the hot metal with the remains of his mad ruler. Leia dragged him away, holding him as he sobbed in her arms.

"Hurry up!" Artie darted through the entrance first. "The walls are collapsing!"

Harry was the last one through. He had just enough time to grab his Army Air Corps cap before a boulder dropped in front of the door, blocking the way to the weapon room forever.

"Watch out!" Clarence gasped as the sparkling Force bridge began to fade out. "The bridge is breaking!"

"It's not breaking." Leia frowned. "The Force magic in this temple is fading. It was destroyed with the weapons, and we have no time to concentrate and make it stay!"

They all managed to get across, but it was nearly gone by the time Harry made it there. His usual luck held. When the bridge finally faded all together, he managed to grab a vine and swing across, landing on something soft.

Charel pushed his partner off his back as they both jumped to their feet. "Sorry I landed on you, buddy," his co-pilot insisted as he dusted himself off. "Hey, at least I made it. I could have gotten killed back there!" Charel took his arm, pointing at the widening cracks in the ceiling. "Thank you, Mr. Interior Decorator. Yes, I'm aware that this place could fall out from under our feet at any minute."

Leia held her sword in the air and concentrated. The crystal blades glowed a soft green. "Follow me." Luke and Harry did the same with theirs, allowing the emerald-green and gold glow to illuminate the increasingly shaky hallways. "Everyone stay together," she said, ducking away as more crystal broke around her. "And be careful! Khyber crystal is pretty heavy, as crystal go, but it can cut you if you get too close to the broken pieces."

"Now you tell me." Clarence groaned as a large rock sliced through the back of his mustard-yellow field jacket, barely missing his spine. "I just bought this coat last week!"

"We'll get you a new one when we get back." Artie grabbed his hand. "Stay with me, buddy. This is hardly the place to be running off."

"I don't think there's anywhere left I can run off to!" Clarence pointed at a pinprick of light ahead of them. "Oh, thank heavens! There's the exit!"

"Right, Goldie." Artie grinned and pushed ahead. "CHARGE!"

All Leia wanted to do at this point was get out. The light grew larger, and larger...but she did think it was odd to see the tops of trees, rather than their trunks. All she could see was endless cerulean blue sky and the occasional ruffles of rich forest green.

It didn't occur to her why this was so until she emerged on the second ledge under the top tier of the temple, directly in the center. The entire temple was shaking now, the very earth splitting under their feet. "Oh no!" Clarence's wail could be heard even over the destruction. "It'll take us hours to climb down from here. We're doomed!"

Harry laughed and waved his cap in the air as the sound of a familiar wheezing engine and the sight of a slightly rusted silver plane broke through the noise. "Didn't I tell you, Goldenrod? Never say never!"

The Silver Falcon stopped, tossing out a grappling hook onto one of the larger pieces of stone. "Hey there, folks." Laurence Carlyle leaned out the cockpit door, his Ipana grin gleaming in the hot jungle sun. His friend Niem Numiez waved from inside the cockpit. "Need a lift?"

Leia let out a sigh of relief. "Like you wouldn't believe."

Charel helped everyone jump into the Falcon's door, then jumped in himself. The plane dipped precariously when he landed, nearly flinging them all back out. He got in just in time. The rock that held the landing hook broke, releasing them into the air.

Just as the Falcon started flying towards the coast, the entire temple caved in, sending debris in every direction for miles and taking large pieces off several of the temples in its immediate vicinity. The resulting crash could be heard for miles; many peasants in neighboring villages thought the end of the world was upon them and hid in their homes or ran to churches to pray.

The diminutive Spanish pilot chattered a mile a minute as he just barely dodged flying bricks from one of the damaged temples. Laurence nodded, shuddering, as one part hit the top of the plane. "That was too close."

"Hey!" Harry, Charel, and Artie joined them up front. Harry glared at him. "You promised you wouldn't hurt my baby!"

"You're lucky your friend down there with the light beam didn't do worse. He almost took a few propellers off." Niem tapped his shoulder, pointing out the window. "Yeah, buddy?"

"Shit!" Harry gasped as a cloud of gray dust and dirt from the temple clouded the cockpit's windows. "Turn on the turbo engines! It's the only way we're going to make it!"

"I know how to drive this plane, thank you!" Laurence made a face. "I used to own it, you know."

No one said anything for a few minutes. The only sound was the roar of the propellers and Luke sobbing quietly in the seats. Leia could hear her heart beating triple-time as the Falcon sped through the foggy grayness.

Then...suddenly...the Falcon burst from the clouds like a bullet out of a gun. Larry waved his good white summer fedora in the air. "Woo hoo! We did it!"

"We did it!" Leia threw her arms around both men, then gave Harry the biggest, most passionate kiss she possibly could. She had to stand on her tip-toes, but it was worth it to see the shocked and delighted look on his handsome face.

"Sweetheart," he said breathlessly, his eyes a little wide, "did you mean that? I mean, I love you, sweetheart, but..."

She smiled and put her fingers on his lips. "I know, sheep-herder."

Leia left the quartet in the cockpit to celebrate their escape and made her way to the back of the main passenger area. Luke sat quietly in the last seat, his head bent over his notes. Artie and Clarence sat in front of him, talking softly among themselves.

"Luke?" He looked up as she slid next to him. "How's your story coming?"

"It isn't. I don't know how I'm going to explain all of this to Miss Tano or my readers. I never did get any photos." Tears ran down his thin cheeks. "Leia...when we get back, I want to bury Father, and Ben and Yoda, too. Well, at least pay for headstones for them." When he lifted his eyes to meet hers, she couldn't helped noticing how red-rimmed and haunted they were. "They should be buried with Mother, at her family's plot in Naboo County. From what Father said, he missed Mother so much."

Leia put her arm around her brother. "I have the feeling we're going to disagree about this one until the end of time. There's no excuse for what he did to us – to you, to me, to Harry and Ben and the world. He killed our mother, Luke!"

Her brother shook his head. "We only have Palpatine's word for that. Besides, no matter what he did later, he was a great archaeologist." He tried to give her a shaky smile. "You know, Yoda had a big collection of Alderaanian artifacts. I think he said he was going to donate them to UCLA or Berkley College when he died. Maybe we could start some kind of museum for them. The Swords could go there, too. It could be for Alderaanian and other artifacts from South and Central America and the southwestern US."

"I like that." Leia squeezed her brother. "It would be a good place for Yasmin Hutt's collection, too. If nothing else, she'd be livid that everyday people are breathing on all her fancy relics."

Artie and Clarence came over, their hats in their hands. "We were talking," Clarence began, "and we've come to a decision. We're simple men. Our needs are few. The Organas and the Skylarks were always very kind to us. We'd like to donate our shares from the expedition to help establish that museum you were talking about." The horse-faced translator had a rather sweet smile, when he wasn't in a constant state of panic. "Your parents and godparents have helped us. Now, we want to help you."

"We'd also like to do somethin' to help our buddies the howler monkeys back at the temples." Artie's grin split across his wide, dark brown face. "They helped us more n' they know. Maybe someone could talk the Guatemalan government into startin' a nature preserve. Make sure no one else besides the occasional archaeologist disturbs them or their breedin' grounds."

"I like that idea." Harry came over, followed by Charel. "We've talked, too. Most of our share is gonna go into repairin' the Falcon and startin' our own cargo haulin' business, with legit partners this time. You guys can have whatever's left for the scholarship and the museum."

Laurence leaned over his shoulder from the cockpit. "Niem n' I are going to put our shares into my hotel and helping more people like Charel and his family escape Coruscant and other countries under fascist rule."

"Don't forget," Clarence added, "there's Empire Industries. As the sole heirs of Derrek Vader – aka Dr. Andrew Skylark – it's more than likely you're now the owners of the entire company."

Leia spoke before Luke could. "We'll see what we can do about selling it as soon as we get back. Neither of us know anything about running a business."

"And we're happy doing what we do." Luke chewed thoughtfully on his pencil. "I wonder who's going to take over Coruscant now that Palpatine's gone?"

"That geezer probably has eight hundred relatives squabblin' over who gets that right." Harry smirked. "I'll bet they're all as ugly as him. Inbreedin' runs high in those royal European circles. I wouldn't be surprised if his sons had three eyes or were insane or somethin'."

Clarence shrugged. "I think his next-in-command was a cousin, one of his generals. Some fellow by the name of Henrich Snoke."

"I just want all of this to be seen." Leia ran her fingers over the etchings in the flat side of the Sword. "I'll be going back to the temples once they're cleared. There's more to be learned there than even what we found today. I'm more interested than ever now in Alderaan and its culture." She sighed. "And especially why the Swords chose Ben and our parents and Harry and Luke and me. We're just ordinary people."

"I'm going to disagree with that." Harry leaned over and gave her a kiss. "You're far from ordinary, sweetheart. I'm startin' to think those hunks of wood n' crystal knew what they were doin' when they picked you. And considerin' what I saw from your pop and Kenobi, them too."

"I think I'd better see if I can call the airfield in Mexico we took off from." Laurence flipped a switch on the control board. "It's time we started hauling our rears home, before those officers in Coruscant figure out what we were doin' there and why."

The second he turned the radio on, a familiar British accent could be heard over the wires. "Hello? Is anyone there?" Luke grinned as Wedge Antilles' plane came up alongside them. "Where have all of you been? Do you know what I've been through? About an hour ago, I was shot at with a...light beam, or a ray gun, or something that looked like it came from the Buck Rogers serial! The Rebel Underground is never going to believe this!"

Luke laughed. "Try us, Wedge. We know all about it. We were there, trying to stop it. I can't say too much over the radio. I'll explain when we get back to LA. It's kind of a long story."

"Hey Luke?" Wedge's voice rose an octave. "When we get back, would, uh, like to have a flying lesson? We could meet in LA and talk about it."

Harry grinned. "I know the perfect place for it, too. Maz doesn't care what kind of people show up in her bar, as long as they don't kill each other."

Leia nodded. "Enjoy yourself, Luke. You deserve it. Besides, I think you'd be a great pilot."

He turned back to the radio as Laurence and Niem gave him thumbs-up signs. "Yeah, Wedge, we can talk when we get back to LA. I know the perfect place, too. There's a little airfield up in the hills. I'll give you the exact location later. It has a great bar."

"Perfect!" Wedge waved from his cockpit, grinning under his orange leather helmet. "I'll see you when we get back, Luke. It's been...it's been really wonderful meeting you. I hope your story makes the front page."

The others chuckled as Luke turned six shades of red. "Yeah, me too, Wedge." He waved to him as Wedge pulled behind the Falcon.

Harry put his arms around Leia as they sat down in the back seat. "So, now that you've found your Papa's life work, what do you want to do next?"

"Set up that museum, for starters." Leia was going through what remained of the notebook. She'd thrown it in her pocket, and was just happy to see that the whole thing wasn't incinerated or torn to bits after they'd dived through all that shattering crystal. "Sell off Empire Industries. Keep an eye on everything going on in Europe. I really appreciated working with Jyn and Cassian and their people. Maybe I'll see if I can do more for them."

"How about us?" Harry leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Maybe a little of that money could go to a bungalow somewhere in LA for the two of us. Nothing fancy. We probably won't be there a lot, anyway. Not at first. After all, we're going to need a place to raise our children."

"Children?" Leia made a face. "We've barely gone on a regular date, and you're already making a family? Harry Solomon, you are the biggest, most annoying..."

He finally softened her complaints with a kiss that left her insides feeling like warm cocoa. "How about we get a place near the airfield?"

She gave him her most charming smile. "All right. But it'll have to be near where we put the museum. And I pick where we're holding the wedding."

That was when Leia heard a sigh that didn't come from either of them. They both turned as one to face the seat across the aisle. Luke stared at the two of them, his eyes nearly filled with cartoon hearts. He gave them a dreamy grin. "Well, go on! This is better than a Joan Crawford movie. Maybe I ought to write a lonely hearts column instead of news stories."

"Luke!" they both yelled at once in annoyance. The trio finally just looked at each other, then at Luke's romantic smile, before bursting into laughter.

 **October 27th, 1970**

"Well, then what happened?"

Leia jolted out of her reverie as she stared at the Sword of Wisdom in it's glass case. She finally turned back around to the three young people behind her, the ones who were hearing this story. She'd specifically wanted to meet these three here. She had suspected for some time that they were the ones. "Well," she said briskly, "the first thing I did was donate the Swords and Papa Bail's work to the university. The money from selling off Empire Industries funded the creation of the Bail Organa Museum of Cultural History and the Benton Kenobi Scholarship for Journalism."

"I know about the scholarship." Rey Ryder, a diminutive, dark-haired Brit in a patchwork miniskirt and tight blouse, nodded. "I won it this year. Which," her pretty face was turning a bit red, "I'm still a little embarrassed about. I can't believe I did it."

"Professor Holdo says you do outstanding work, dear." She lead the trio to the Sword of Light. "You all do. Finn, I've heard nothing but good things about you ever since you came here."

"Glad I didn't stay with the First Order Company in Coruscant. They were hell to work for." Finn was dressed far less colorfully than Rey in a plaid sweater vest over a yellow shirt and tan slacks that were mellow against his chocolate-colored skin. "Captain Solomon was nice enough to pay for my first year's tuition."

"I just wish he was here." Poe tugged at his Air Force jacket. "How long is it going to take him to arrive?"

"He'd better be here any second." Leia sighed. "I wish Luke hadn't run off to the Middle East to work on stories about the situation there. I could use his help with this."

"With what?" Rey gently placed her fingers against the glass that protected the Sword of Wisdom. "Ever since I came here, I've felt this place...call to me. I didn't know why, until you said that you felt the same call." She looked up, her hazel eyes wide with wonder. "Do we have the Force, Dr. Skylark? Is that why I feel the need to hold this?"

The older professor nodded. "So it would seem."

Finn nearly pressed his nose against the case that held the three swords. "What happened after that? After you opened the museum and sold off Empire Industries?"

"First of all, I spent a lot of the next few months after that cataloging Professor Chiang and Mrs. Hutt's collections. Between the two of them, they had at least a million dollars worth of precious artifacts. Professor Chiang already willed his collection to UCLA, which donated it to us. Yasmin Hutt's family wanted nothing to do with the artifacts and sold them to us as quickly as they could." Leia frowned. "They started planning the museum in 1941, but it had to be put on hold for three years due to the war. The artifacts were kept in storage during that time."

"You were in the war, right?" Poe grinned. "That's how you met my parents. You were working at UCLA, and my mom was a student, and you two looked for artifacts together and apparently did some spying."

"Shhh!" Leia waved a finger at him. "That's top secret. We're not really supposed to talk about it. Your father and my husband would have never gotten involved if it wasn't for that business in Sacramento."

"Captain Solomon told me he flew during the war." Finn finally looked away from the Sword of Light. "He flew bombing missions over Japan and brought cargo to the soldiers across enemy lines."

"Yes, he did." Leia looked at her watch. "He'll tell you more about it himself if he ever appears."

"What about everyone else? I know you became the head of the Archeology Department at UCLA, Dr. Skylark." Rey had one eye on the Sword of Wisdom and the other on her mentor. "Wedge Antilles, the rebels in Coruscant, Laurence..."

"Laurence is still in the Riviera." Leia chuckled. "He and Niem did take in refugees from countries persecuted by Nazi and fascist rule. He was still taking them in well into the early 50's. He expanded his holdings after that. He bought two more hotels and has added a spa and an extension to the Ville Du Nuage. Harry and I took Ben to visit him from time to time."

"Ben." Rey looked up at the change in Leia's voice when she said that name. "Your son, Benton. He's not in UCLA anymore. Not that we ever saw him much. He was happier when he was off brooding somewhere."

"No." Leia didn't really want to talk about what had gone wrong with Ben. "He never understood why the Swords didn't speak to him, like they did his grandfather. He studied the Force with me, and then he studied journalism with his uncle."

"I know this story." Poe made a face. "He burned half Luke's school down, the one he started in London for aspiring journalists after the war."

"He was arrested for arson, but got off on a technicality." Leia rubbed her head. "I don't know what to do with that boy. I guess we just weren't around enough. Didn't pay enough attention to him."

"If you ask me, too many people are paying attention to him now." Rey rolled her eyes. "He thinks that changing his name to Kylo Ren and working for the First Order Company in Coruscant will make him a big-shot. It makes him a Communist. Everyone knows Hemilich Snoke is the real owner of the First Order Company. The Hux family takes orders from him."

Poe nodded. "That's why Mr. Skylark took that assignment in Iran. He's trying to get away from the disaster with his school."

The college girl returned to pressing her nose through the glass. "I'd like to meet him someday. I really admire his articles from the heart of Coruscant, Germany, and Poland during the war. I heard he even flew right into Berlin during the worst of the bombing and caught Hitler right before he died."

"There's a lot of stories flying around about my brother. Some of them are even true." Leia reached over and pulled a switch behind a box. "And you'll get to ask him about them yourselves when we find him."

"Us?" Finn pointed to himself. "Us? Go to Europe, or the Middle East? Oh no. I can't. If the First Order Company knows I've left the country, they'll come after me."

"Don't worry, buddy!" Poe threw his arm around his best friend. "You have the Guardian of Strength to protect you!"

His friend snorted. "No offense, Poe, but that isn't reassuring."

Rey ignored the boys. "What about the Rebel group, Jeanne and Cassian and their friends?"

"And Bodhi?" Finn pulled away from Poe and returned to the Swords. "I liked him. I know how he feels about being a traitor and all."

Leia's smile faded. "We worked with Jeanne and Cassian a few more times early in the war, shortly after the US entered. They and their entire unit died when they were shot while sending coded messages to Allied spies during the Battle of the Bulge."

"That's so sad." Finn frowned. "I kind of wish they survived."

"Me too." Leia gave them a small smile. "A part of me wonders if at least Jeanne and Cassian aren't in hiding somewhere, raising children and protesting the Vietnam War."

"Dr. Mothma is retired, right?" Poe leaned on the glass case holding the Sword of Strength. Leia smacked his shoulder off the glass. "I think I remember her from when I was in school. She retired during my fourth semester."

Leia nodded. "Still alive, but very much in retirement. Admiral Ackbar, as you know, is now president and chief curator of the museum. He swears he's too active for retirement."

"Is that what we're going to do?" Rey looked up from the Sword of Wisdom. "Help the Admiral? One of those top secret things you mentioned?"

"No, it has to do with the First Order Company." Leia sighed. "They've been poking around in Guatemala, at the temples. The rubble of the Jedi Temple was cleared years ago, but the remains are still there. I think my son is after something. I just wish I knew what." She sighed. "But first, I wish Harry would actually keep an appointment."

"Sorry, are we late?" Her husband rushed over, skidding on the highly polished wood floor. "The downtown traffic in LA is hell at this time of day." His old Army Air Corps cap and jacket had been replaced by an Air Force cap and jacket, his handsome face was lined, and that scruffy mop of his had turned silver, but he was still her sheep-herder. "So, did you brief the kiddies on what they're gonna do?"

Charel growled behind him. Other than a few silver threads in his beard, the hulking Russian had barely changed in thirty years. Leia wondered if chasing after his family and grandchildren kept him young. She was so glad they'd managed to get them all over, just before the war started in the US.

"Yeah, buddy. We know what we're doin'." He patted Charel's shoulder.

"Still selling illegal pets to millionaires?" Leia rubbed her temple. "Harry, we've been over this. You promised me you were going to get legitimate work."

"Hey, it paid well." Harry grinned at the three youths. "Rey and Finn helped me out with the last one, right?"

"Oh please." Rey rolled her eyes. "Those big cats? They almost clawed us to death, and they did kill three of the men who were trying to get money off you."

Finn nodded. "And one almost killed me! If we hadn't accidentally let them out of their cages, we'd all be dead right now!"

Her boss tried to give his skeptical wife a smile. "Honey, those leopards are worth big bucks! I swear, this is the last one!"

"Sure it is." Leia patted his cheek. "We'll discuss this later, flyboy."

"So, now that we're all here," Poe leaned against a mannequin wearing an ancient Alderaanian ceremonial costume, "what's all the fuss about? Besides the First Order."

"These." Charel and Harry helped Leia get the glass off the Swords. "Don't worry," she assured the younger trio. "I had the security alarms for these turned off before I unlocked them."

"Wow." Finn eyed the Sword of Light with amazement. "Can we...you know..."

This time, Leia's grin did reach her eyes. "Go right ahead. They want you to."

"Sure." Poe picked up the Sword of Strength easily as gold light flowed over his hands. "I thought this would be heavier." He swished it around, doing pretend feints. "Ha! So we meet again, Kylo Ren, for the first time! Have a taste of my crystal!"

Harry ducked out of his way. "Kid, you watch way too many old pirate movies on late-night TV."

"Stop goofing off, Poe." Rey took the Sword of Wisdom gently, but reverently. She pointed it in front of her as watery green light flowed over her fingers. "I can feel it, Dr. Skylark. It's there. The power...the Force? Is that the Force?"

"Yes." Leia put her hand on the girl's. "That's the first thing we're going to teach you on the plane to the Middle East to pick up my dear brother."

"The Middle East? But they're killing people over there!" Finn gulped. "I don't think this is such a good idea after all..."

"Aw, come on, kid." Harry handed him the Sword of Light. "It won't bite you. I promise."

Finn took the Sword delicately, like it would shatter with even the slightest touch. "I feel it, too," he said softly. "It's like it was made for me. It needs me. The light...it's so warm, so...strong."

Even as he spoke those words, a light beam that came in through the skylight over their heads reflected off the blue crystals on Finn's sword. The small beam just barely missed Poe, vaporizing a stuffed parrot in a display of Alderaanian warrior armor shown in its natural habitat.

"Sorry!" Finn squeaked, nearly dropping the weapon. "I'm sorry! Really, I am! I'll pay for it! Honest! I didn't know I could do that!"

Leia sighed. "Don't worry, Finn. The museum can easily replace the parrot. That does illustrate why we called you here. We need to work with the three of you on directing and controlling your powers."

"Yeah." Harry crossed his arms. "We had to learn the hard way, without supervision, while on the field. We figured you kids will need more help. After all," he gave them his famous half-smirk, "we gotta get the old team back if we're going to deal with that new weapon they're building in Coruscant."

"New weapon?" Poe stopped pretending to have duels with an invisible Errol Flynn. "The Starkiller Ray. I had heard about that right before I left the Air Force. I hoped it was somebody's imagination."

"It's real, all right." Leia sighed. "But we'll discuss that on the way to the airport."

"Wait!" Finn shook his head. "I'm not ready! I have to pack! What about school? And our jobs?"

"Kid, you work for Char and me at the air field, remember?" Harry grinned and Charel let out a booming laugh. "I'm officially giving you your first vacation time as of this second."

"What about my job?" Rey frowned. "Maz will be out a waitress, and it's going to be the holidays soon."

"I think she'll understand." Leia turned to Poe. "And you work for me at UCLA. As of now, you're also on sabbatical. I'll continue to pay your salary."

Poe grinned. "Groovy! We're going on an adventure!"

Harry laughed. "Yeah, well, no one's going anywhere unless we get moving."

"He's right." Leia took three plain wooden boxes lined with cotton and velvet from under her arms. "This is for the Swords while we're in LA. We'll keep them under lock and key at our house until we're ready to leave."

"And that will be in about three hours." Harry put an arm around Poe. "Hey kid, wanna go get a drink at Maz's and talk planes? Leia told me you're quite a pilot yourself."

"Oh, I've been around a plane or two." Poe smirked. "I've got some stories about the Viet Cong that will make your hair stand on end, old man."

Harry gave him the smirk again. "Try me, kid."

Charel sighed and growled to Finn as Harry and Poe walked off together. "I'm not much of a drinker. I need to pack, anyway." He nodded at his booming bass. "You'll drive me and Rey to our place? Great, thanks."

Rey raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know you spoke Russian."

"Only a little." Finn shrugged. "I hope that's what he's saying, at any rate. We've gotta pack, and I need lunch, and to write my will and call Rose and ask her if I know what I'm doing and if I'm crazy to be doing it."

"Oh Finn!" Rey shook her head. "I'm sure we'll be fine."

"Rey," Leia turned to her as Finn headed out with Charel, "I want you to be careful. One of the powers the Sword of Wisdom grants is precognition, or second sight. It's cloudy, but I have the feeling something terrible is going to happen...and it'll involve you, me, my brother, and Ben...Kylo Ren."

"You too?" Rey frowned. "I've felt gloom-and-doom-y for months, and I don't think it's just what I've been seeing on the nightly news."

"Snoke is planning something big." Leia held the boxes closer, almost dropping one. "And I'm sure my son has something even bigger in mind. I just wish I knew what."

Rey took one of the boxes and gave her a reassuring smile. "We'll find out together. All of us."

Leia nodded. "Thank you, dear. Yes, we will." She flashed Rey a slightly harried smile of her own. "Now, let's get going, before those crazy men of ours get themselves drunk and use those strength powers to start bar brawls."

"Now Leia," Rey laughed, "what's the use of powers if you can't have some fun with them?"

"You know, Rey," Leia chuckled, "I think we're going to get along just fine." She put her empty arm around the girl's shoulders. "Let's go rescue our men from themselves."

The girl just grinned at her. "Don't we always?"

As they walked out of Alderaanian culture room, Leia took one last look over her shoulder at the mock-up of the Temples in the warrior display. It may have been made of paper mache, but it brought back so many memories. If only Luke was there!

"Don't worry, brother." Leia whispered to the quiet room. "We'll make things right."

Her only answer was one last warm, reassuring golden sun beam from the skylight, warming her face and her heart, as encouraging as if her dear, silly brother was right there with her. He would be, again. Someday.

 **The End**


End file.
